GOODBYE, FIRST LOVE
2025
TWO CHANNEL VIDEO INSTALLATION, BLACK & WHITE, NO SOUND
FIRST CHANNEL : 1 SECOND ; SECOND CHANNEL : 1 DAY
I FELL IN LOVE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE USA, WHERE I BRIEFLY ATTENDED FILM SCHOOL.
LOOKING THROUGH MY VIDEO AND PHOTO ARCHIVE, I FOUND A VERY SHORT CLIP OF HIM AND I: TWO SILHOUETTES REFLECTED ON A RIVER, ONE RECORDING, THE OTHER WAVING GOODBYE. IT WAS THE LAST VIDEO OF US TOGETHER BEFORE WE PARTED WAYS.
IT MADE ME REFLECT ON THE AMBIVALENT NATURE OF MEMORIES, HOW SOMETHING DEEPLY MEANINGFUL TO ONE PERSON CAN BE MERELY ANECDOTAL TO ANOTHER. THE FRUSTRATING EPHEMERALITY OF IT ALL.
THE INSTALLATION IS PRESENTED ON TWO MONITORS.
ONE SCREEN LOOPS THE SAME ONE-SECOND MEMORY INFINITELY, TO THE POINT OF ABSURDITY.
THE OTHER STRETCHES THAT SAME MOMENT INTO 24 HOURS, DENATURALIZING IT, STRIPPING IT OF ITS IMMEDIACY. THE CLIP BECOMES STATIC, EFFACING THE GESTURE OF GOODBYE, ALONG WITH THE FLOW OF THE RIVER AND THE PASSAGE OF TIME.
THE INSTALLATION BORROWS ITS TITLE FROM MIA HANSEN-LØVE’S 2011 FILM, ONE OF MY FAVORITES, WHICH TELLS THE DECADE-LONG STORY OF A YOUNG WOMAN TRAGICALLY UNABLE TO MOVE ON FROM A RELATIONSHIP SHE HAD AS A TEENAGER.