the installation, Toutes Directions, is collaboration between John Hudson and Chrys Salt, poets and artists from South-West Scotland. They were both artists-in-residence in Poitou-Charente, 2009, and featured in the “Printemps des Poetes” season in France 2009. Toutes Directions was first installed at the Chapelle des Benedictines in the town of St Jean d'Angely as part of the "Retour a l'Infini" exhibition
A man walks in many different directions. Roads grow ever narrower until hisjourney ends. We observe the film through semi-transparent screens. The journey repeats and echoes from many perspectives depending upon the observer's viewpoint.
Twelve quatrains question the nature of time and offer condensed narratives of individual lives contrapuntal to the man's archetypal journey.
The mandalas and the timepiece
The quatrains of the film are also echoed in the twelve mandalas. The timepiece explores the conundrum of the present tense. It attempts to capture "now" like a ship in a bottle. Representations of time lost, spent, due, scatter aimlessly around its base. Reading the words in the bottles in a clockwise direction we journey through an ever-present present towards a future that eludes us.
The synergy of all three elements of the installation: film, the mandalas and timpeiece, reference the passage of time through the lens of accumulated moments.
A further performance element was realised during the first showing of Toutes Directions and featured specially written work, music and dance that combined with the poems and words included in the installation. Such a performance is an optional addition to the gallery piece.
The installation was created through the generous support of the region of Poitou Charente, France and in association with the St Jean d'ArtPlasty organisationa and was first shown at the Chapelle des Benedictines, St Jean d'Angely, France during March 2009.
installing the black box for the film projection