Vicky Langan is a Cork based experimental video artist that participated in TULCA in Galway last year. I went to see her (and Maximilian Le Cain) video piece 'Inside' (60 min) in November. It was a fantastic piece; comedic, absurd, multilayered, poetic.
It depicts a woman's inner life and her journey through different mental
stages and psychic breakdown. It reminded me in some aspects of Paddy Jolley's piece 'The Drowning Room', the domestic rituals, the feeling of absurdity and the surreal. Tasks such as eating, chopping wood
etc are done in silence; tense and at the same time aloof. It is both absurd, perverse, slightly comedic, dreamlike,
dark (monotonous industrial soundtrack) and quite beautiful. The piece got me
more interested in making my own soundscape, experiment with different sounds
and see if I can make ambient soundtrack to my own work, rather than
collaborate with a sound artist. I don't mind working with someone else though,
it can be a rich experience if done right, and if they understand what the
piece needs.
I loved the visual effects (blurred lens), the suspenseful eeriness, the isolation, the experimental performance. I am drawn to that in my own work; pushing the limits in body performance, not being afraid of letting go and let what's inside out. Manifest the "crazy" and the absurd.
Visit her website for more info.
