Gorchakov's Wish

The final component of the Gorchakov’s Wish series of works engaging with the penultimate scene of acclaimed Russian film-maker Andrei Tarkovsky’s Nostalghia (1983) where a single extended take and tracking shot follows the protagonist, the poet Gorchakov, as he enacts a ritualistic performance carrying a lit candle across the expanse of the Santa Caterina Pool. The scene was shot on location in Bagno Vignoni, Italy.

'Gorchakov's Wish' translates this scene into an 'allegory of representation' comprising five stages: Stage 1 (light); Stage 2 (object); Stage 3 (trace); Stage 4 (image); Stage 5 (fall). For this iteration of the work the allegory is conceived of and generated as a moving image. A sequence of live actions are performed at five consecutive locations, or ‘stations’, spanning the length of the space at The Centre for Creative Collaboration. At each station is a backdrop of white paper and props including: lighter, candles, clay, charcoal pencil, Polaroid camera, bowl of water, salt, blue ink, video projection, black paint. The actions are performed at each station employing these various props, and documented on HD video through a single extended take and tracking shot, resulting in the construction of the allegory as moving image.

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