About
Pugilist Series 449 is a single channel video installation in which a boxer (the artist’s sister) delivers a flurry of several hundred blows to the artist’s body and head over five rounds. The artist attempts to remain static and the involuntary sound of his body being impacted are almost his only reaction.
Wearing a head mounted camera and binaural microphones in his ears the artist documents the assault from the aggressor from a first person perspective. Time is distorted accentuating the beautiful fluidity of the movement counter-pointed against the violence. Speakers are mounted behind the audience with the projection surface in front further placing the audience within the work as a victim.


Video
Click on the image above to view a short extract from rounds one and five of the entire 25-minute work.

Duration 7:03
Size: 47.9MB
Format: MPEG1 Movie (.mpg)
Headphones or quality stereo sound system recomended....

If you have problems viewing the video due to pop up windows being blocked in your browser click <here>
Also...See film | video section of the website for a high speed version of the entire work.
Installation View: Platform Exhibition, The Art Center, Chulalongkorn University 2006

Production
Pugilist Series 449 was produced in a studio. Video was shot on two small CCTV cameras that were mounted on my head via modified boxing headgear. One camera was situated near my forehead and another at my chin level. Two cameras were used for contingency as the whole work had to be shot in one single take with no edits. As it turns out, the repeated impacts killed the upper camera by round four, so it was fortuitous that the lower camera was able to capture the entire sequence. Video and audio content was fed via cables to hdd recorders. The live audio was recorded with some binaural microphones and an over-head hyper cardioid microphone for reference. The final sound on the project is simply the in-ear microphone recordings that have been speed-manipulated in conjunction with the image. The in-ear microphones provided very clear and visceral recordings of the event which adds considerably to the overall impact of the exhibited work.

Click on the image to the right to view a rather entertaining production video captured by a static camera located at the rear of the room. The camera operated for the duration of the shoot and shows an unusual perspective of the initial tests and subsequent 449 blows >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Duration: 1:57
Size 12.6 MB
Format: MPEG1 Movie (.mpg)

If you have problems viewing the video due to pop up windows being blocked in your browser click <here>

Thanks To..
Tania Doropoulos for comissioning the work for Grudge Match in 2006, My darling sister Michaela Davies for giving me a black eye, Angelica Mesiti for being a seductive ring girl and arch enemy, and Ali Crosby for damage control...