Live Images - Critical Mass by Kerry Tribe

Critical Mass is the third part of Hollis Frampton's classic structural film series Hapax Legomena (1971-72). Using the domestic dispute of a young couple as its raw material, Critical Mass consists of an improvised performance filmed on two 100' reels of 16mm film. Frampton edited the material in an increasingly complex and frenetic series of cuts, resulting in a rhythmic syllabic cacophony that gradually shifts the sound to sync with the opposite character.

For the performance of the same name, artist Kerry Tribe worked with two professional actors. First transcribing then memorizing the entire text of the film, the actors restage the film, shot for shot. In Tribe's version, the actors perform the words exactly as they are heard in the film, including all the interruptions, partial words and stutter effect. In this way she transforms the piece, so that the editing of the film becomes embedded in the performance itself. Critical Mass is Tribe's first live performance project and continues the investigation into personal and historic memory found in her film and video works. The performance runs approximately 30 minutes and will be accompanied by a lecture by Tribe about her practice.