Underbelly

2006
Video with sound

Videostills

Filmed entirely underwater, lone bodies float side by side, heads stuck through the surface and legs kicking spasmodically to stay afloat.

Stalking Head

2006, video with sound, 5.20 min loop

Excruciating close-ups of a spiritual predator pleading to the camera. All words omitted, left are only the air in between them.

My way

2005, video with sound, 2.26 min

An elderly woman sings the famous Frank Sinatra song, reminiscing about a lived life. As the song progresses the sound becomes eerie as her voice turns more childlike. The light surrounding her slowly engulfs her until in the end it pulls her away completely.

Forget me not I, II and III

2004, video with sound, 1.30 min, 6 min, 3.35 min

Series of three films showing Guinnes world record holders performing their specialist act. A sword swallower, a strong man and a glutton.
Removed from the show and the circus, and from the egging audience that usually surrounds them, the performers are left in a timeless space, with only themselves and their act remaining. Their act is now an intimate and absurd one performed for the few.

To the heart of a woman

2006, video with sound, 9.40 min

Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant kissing in Hitchcock's film 'Notorious' from 1946. For a long time the kiss was known to be the longest in film history.
The film clip has been reworked to fit a new soundtrack. An originally long kiss becomes uncomfortably prolonged whilst Cary Grant’s lips are synced to the words of a dating Guru reciting cheap subliminal tricks to bed women. Romantic desires confict and timeless screen romance is played out by its lonely, desperate counterpart.

Dead lift

2006, 16mm film, 11 min

Raw physical strength is here controlled in the environment of professional competition in an exercise aptly named Dead Lift. Filled with tension their faces express an almost religious experience as they appear to be pushing through some kind of barrier; their eyes are fixed upwards while their bodies stretch up and unfold. The look of relief on their faces happens the moment they achieve or fail. This can be the moment of glory and awe where tension gives way to fleeting transcendence, or the point of failure, just before the weight pulls them back down to earth.

Singer with butterflies

2003, video with sound, 4.13 min

The beginnings and the ends and the gaps between songs of a wedding singer's hour-length song repertoire.
Performer: John O´Malley

It takes two to tango

2002, video with sound, 1.30 min loopLife size projection on wall

Contrary to the title, Bill is dancing the tango on his own, leaving room in his arms for an imaginary partner. He seems comfortable alone, yet his open arms are an
invitation to join him.

Trine Lise Nedreaas