WESTERN EXHIBITIONS New Art from NEW ORLEANS 2011

NEW ART FROM NEW ORLEANS
Organized by Keith Couser | info | images
Stephen Collier | Brian Guidry | Rachel Jones

STEPHEN COLLIER
Five Finger Fillet
2008
Digital Video on DVD
edition of 5

In Five Finger Fillet, a hand is placed with fingers-spread on a wooden tabletop while another hand stabs with a knifepoint at the space between each finger, intending not to prick the hand. It is a sailor’s game, a rite of passage amongst men, utterly human, foolish, and inflated with a certain dignity, a certain bravado. Though the knife in Collier’s video crosses the hand back and forth only once, it provides insight into Collier’s interest in games, rituals, poses, and conceptual stunts.