The House of Influence
JOHN STURGEON ©1985
color, 8 minutes, stereo
the HOUSE of INFLUENCE is a vivid verbal and visual piece that expresses the tension/pressure of an internal dialogue, with poetic asides and the image/acoustic metaphor of relentless water about the artist.
Sturgeon confronts the viewer & self with frustration, from the gap between intent and action, in a series of scenes that utilize water as the penetrating constant: a lawn sprinkler, a torrential storm, a waterfall. He questions his ability to realize honesty amid the maze of facades behind which.... who we are hides.
"Don't worry! I'll deal with it..."
I have got to get that together…
It won’t happen again
I wouldn’t do that…
That can’t be all…
Come on – Come on!
It isn’t finished…
Don’t worry!
I’ll deal with it.
I’ll have to get that together
It won’t happen again.
Got to get my act together
That can’t be all…
Got to get it together
Come on, come on
It isn’t finished…
Come on -
Don’t worry
Come on – Come on!
It’s as if even
in the most mundane of moments,
there is this horrible façade.
All thoughts,
All words,
All gestures –
belie the point.
I don’t know if honesty is possible,
with myself, let alone with you.
Thirst drinks in its well of self-pity
Restlessness, my indolent idol -
urges my coquettish defense.
What for the sake of the personality,
who art invested in images –
What for the love of the games,
the fear of the face staring in the face,
eye to eye, in that incredible union –
without need of words
without desire.
My honesty escapes, shimmering
in waves of fascination with mirrors –
My thoughts move like herds across endless TVs
and I am desperately scanning,
seeking that single point – pearl of light
that catapults my boundaries beyond all separation.
The pain – the pain in the mind
is related to the pain in the body –
The pain in the body is related
to the pain in the mind.
It’s hard to separate one from the other,
or rather their origin.
The rain is the sound of the blood – flowing,
the sound of the nervous system
the sound of the wind – changing…
River’s rain is the sound of the flow River’s rain is the sound of change…
Come on – I’ll deal with it!
Date Completed: August 1985, Troy, New York
Production: Troy, NY
Funding: 1984 C.A.P.S. (Creative Artists Public Service) grant, State of New York
Copyright: John Sturgeon, ©1985
Length: 10:45 minutes, color, stereo
Original Master Format: 3/4 “ U-Matic
Sub-Master: 1”, Beta Cam SP, DVCam NTSC
CREDITS:
Artist / Performer: John Sturgeon
Poetic text & voice over: John Sturgeon
Edit: John Sturgeon
Cameras: Aysha Quinn & John Sturgeon
Synthesizer & Sound Compositions: John Sturgeon
Slow Motion Processing: Miroslaw Rogala
MOCA-TV
The House of Influence
by John Sturgeon ©1985
The Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles launched its Internet channel for Video Art, September 2012. The premiere series of the online channel featured one of John Sturgeon's early video works, The House of Influence ©1985, with a current interview with the artist by Peter Kirby.
Artist Video Projects:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4TUjUbOUJc
Published on MOCAtv - January 21, 2013. Interview with John Sturgeon followed by his video art work: The House of Influence, 1985.