Connecting people through art 

Ryan Gander

Is This Guilt in You Too (The Study of a Car in a Field)

The spectator enters a darkened projection room and finds the screen empty. The voice, of what seems to be a young girl is speaking in an archetypal English accent. There are distinctly two characters: one speaks (the girl) and the other is represented by pauses in the sound. The girl’s musings jump between tens-es, at times drifting into storytelling, at others addressing the spectator or the maker directly. The voice reflects upon the possible readings and inter-pretations of not only the film, but also of the reality of being within this projection room.

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Simultaneously the dark screen fades into an image of a car standing motionless – but with its engine running, so visibly occupied, in a field covered with white snow early on a winter’s morning. The shot is reminiscent of an opening scene from a cinematic feature film. From high above in the sky the camera slowly swoops down towards the car. The journey takes approximately twenty seconds. At the moment that the viewer would expect action to begin – perhaps the car door opening or the car speeding off – the film cuts back to black.

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In many respects the film provides an impossible conundrum. Firstly as there are no tracks in the snow, how, when and to what purpose did the car arrive at the center of this field? And secondly, what turn does the narrative take prior to or following this glimpse?