Kim Pieters

flight (2011)

4 min 15 secSingle channel / Digital Video / Colour / Sound

flight begins with grainy, blurry footage of a landed helicopter, propellers spinning. Slowly, we see a person disembark from the aircraft and walk away down a ramp, before disappearing into a dark tunnel.

The image is deliberately obscured and this creates a sense of voyeurism. We get the sense that we are viewing security camera footage, or peering into a secretive military base. Why are we focussing on this lone figure? What acts have been committed by this aircraft, so frequently used for surveillance itself?

"This, in fact, is an everyday scene. The helicopter is delivering patients to Ōtepoti hospital. Its ominous body flies to and fro over my harbour studio. Rescuing or attempting to rescue. Alex Mackinnon’s sound juxtaposed with this image augments the sense of threat. The helicopter is an insect, quite beautiful amongst the green of the town belt.

There are many disjunctions here we could think about. We do not think about them."

Artist's statement

Other works by Kim Pieters

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