BRUCE CHARLESWORTH
PROJECTILE
FILM AND VIDEO
Video still from Projectile, 1983
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In the video PROJECTILE, a man named Johnson is followed to a birthday party in a survivalist's bunker where, during a game of ping-pong, a flying object leaves a gaping hole in the ceiling and a mess on the floor.
Like Lost Dance Steps, which was made at the same time, Projectile uses intervening text cards to advance the narrative. Charlesworth used this device at moments when a visualization of an event might require a large vista, many people or great expense. In the 1983 version of this video, edited for the exhibition The End of the World at the New Museum of Contemporary Art, the mysterious object is shown in flames hurtling toward a miniature suburban house.
Earlier versions of the videos Projectile, Lost Dance Steps, Surveillance and Wrong Adventures were first shown as parts of the installations with the same names. In slightly different forms, these videos were subsequently shown by themselves as separate works.
Script, Direction, Camera, Editing: Bruce Charlesworth
CAST: Bruce Charlesworth (Johnson), Paul Benson (Detective), Leonard Titzer (Party Host), Kate Richardson (Party Guest)
1983, 3/4-inch video, 20 minutes