Ben Holmes

Bags (2010)

5 min 19 secSingle channel / Digital Video / Colour

A series of images of water are accompanied by a voiceover which describes “a popular summer game” in which the participant searches near bodies of water for bags containing messages. The speaker recounts an incident - “…a couple of summers ago I was out there windsurfing and I found one of these bags and I opened it up… and I actually found a guinea pig in a plastic container in the bag”.

Part of a series of instructional videos made between 2005-2010 that were sent out with different accessories as part of a mail-based participation game. Their premise was to show participants how to perform different tasks and how to take part in a covert communication system through the use of various collusive actions, markings and signals. Initially they also incorporated a points and prizes system.

Other works in this series

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