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Act I of this four-part video installation introduces the character Echo from Ovid's “Echo and Narcissus,” and describes the first part of the myth, in which Echo uses her loquaciousness to distract Hera while Zeus is cheating on her, and Hera subsequently curses Echo to only speak the last words she hears. The “set” includes two paintings on a freestanding wall, one of an ear and one of a mouth in the negative space of the ear. Rolling striped fabric is visible through slits cut in the paintings until, when the fabric reaches the end of a roll, the performer is exposed. The colors of the fabric correspond to the score written by Julie Harting for the performance.
Act II of this four-part video installation continues the narration begun on the first floor, in which Echo distracts Hera while Zeus is cheating on her, and Hera subsequently curses Echo to only speak the last words she hears. In this act Narcissus is introduced as the object of Echo’s desire. The “set” includes two paintings on a freestanding wall, one of an ear and one of a mouth in the negative space of the ear. Rolling striped fabric is visible through slits cut in the paintings until, when the fabric reaches the end of a roll, the performer is exposed. The colors of the fabric correspond to the score written by Julie Harting for the performance.
Act III of this four-part video installation continues the narration begun on the first and second floors, in which Hera curses Echo to only speak the last words she hears, and Echo meets Narcissus and falls in love. In this act Narcissus becomes infatuated with his own reflection after rejecting Echo. The “set” includes two paintings on a freestanding wall, one of an ear and one of a mouth in the negative space of the ear. Rolling striped fabric is visible through slits cut in the paintings until, when the fabric reaches the end of a roll, the performer is exposed. The colors of the fabric correspond to the score written by Julie Harting for the performance.
Act IV of this four-part video installation reveals the changeovers between the sequences shown on the preceding floors. The spectral scrolling patterns of the previous videos are here visible as loose fabric, and the mechanism that allows for the rolling motion is heard as a series of clanks and slides as rolls are removed and reset.