Video Arts
Exploring video as a creative tool
Artist Research : Farheen Haq
Farheen was born in Ontario and now lives in Victoria BC (on Lekwungen unceded territory). She studied art at York University. She is a multidisciplinary artist working predominantly in video.
The piece I have chosen is ‘Folding Time’. It is a 90 second long video with no sound. There is a neutral background and two people are facing each other while they fold a sheet together. It is a very measured action and there is something reverential about the way the people fold the sheet together. Once it is folded, the video plays in reverse to suggest the unfolding. It could be viewed in a loop.
The video was made in 2022 as the Covid Pandemic was coming to an end. People had been thrown into spending more time at home and possibly engaging in more homely tasks, such as folding laundry together.
‘Folding Time’ reminds me of helping my mother or my sister folding line-dried sheets. I remember the need to work together- to watch each other and turn the folds the same way. Also the laughter of misjudging and colliding in the process. The silence emphasizes the analog and somewhat ancient nature of this task. There is a double meaning to the title- one describing the task and one alluding to the nature of time.
The artist created this piece to reflect on relationships and the nature of time. She sees the fabric as a manifestation of time and the movement as a choreography of a relationship. She folded the sheet with her adolescent daughter and saw it as a ritual of acceptance.
I’m curious what the folding sounded like- I checked to see that my sound was on, such was my curiosity.
I am interested in the intimacy Farheen Haq captures in her video art. There is something very slow and contemplative about her work.
Perhaps I will try to incorporate some moments of silence into my work. I may also consider how I can evoke an atmosphere of intimacy in my video poem.