SELECTED #10

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JANET BIGGS
CAN’T FIND MY WAY HOME
2015, 9’ 44’’, single channel, colour, sound, edition of 5
PREMIÈRE
Can’t Find My Way Home explores the role
of memory in the construction of identity. An
avid collector of gems, Biggs’ grandfather
was able to recall the most obscure names
of samples in his collections even as he
was losing the ability to remember or
identify family members around him. In
1980, Merkers miners discovered a unique
and extraordinary geological anomaly 800
meters below the surface: a cavern filled with
giant, glistening, geometric crystals, some
measuring more than a meter in length.
Entering this natural wonder is like walking
into a mammoth geode, an experience that
is both immersive and otherworldly. Can’t
Find my Way Home juxtaposes footage shot
in the crystal cavern with documentation
of neurological research conducted in
laboratories in New York and Houston. In
doing so, Biggs draws visual connections
between the structure of these crystals and
the proteins that determine the biochemical
conditions of a hyper-excited brain, such as
one afflicted with Alzheimer. By physically
exploring the Merkers crystal cavern, Biggs
figuratively sets out to investigate the
diseased brain of her grandfather, tracing
fading memories and making astonishing
discoveries as she herself experiences
disorientation and confusion, some of the
same symptoms endured by Alzheimer’s
patients.
Janet Biggs (1959, Harrisburg, PA, USA)
is an American artist, known primarily
for her work in video, photography and
performance. She lives and works in
Brooklyn, New York. She has captured
such events as speeding motorcycles
on the Bonneville Salt Flats, Olympic
synchronized swimmers in their
attempts to defy gravity, kayaks
performing a synchronized ballet in
Arctic waters, sulphur miners inside an
active volcano, and a camel caravan
crossing the Taklamakan desert of
Western China. Biggs received her
undergraduate degree from Moore
College of Art, and pursued graduate
studies at Rhode Island School of
Design. Her work has been featured
in the first International Biennial of
Contemporary Art of Cartagena de
Indias; the Musée d’art contemporain
de Lyon; Vantaa Art Museum;
Konsthall Passagen, Linköping;
Oberösterreichisches Landesmuseum,
Linz; Kunstmuseum Bonn; Museo
d’Arte Contemporanea di Roma; and the
National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts.
She currently lives and works in New
York.
Presented by
— Analix Forever, Geneva