Corpus Vidéo | Vithèque

[ fig.01 ]Contact sheet 3 Legends, 1988.

Corpus Vidéo

Videographic Work — Video Program

Nelson Henricks' work is very unique and emblematic of what contemporary artistic practices have to offer. A way of being in the world that at once unmistakably inscribes itself in the present, while acknowledging what has built it, nourished it, stimulated it, made it, so to speak. By developing this language that is so singular to him, Henricks has made a very significant contribution to the evolution of video art in Canada. In addition to the extraordinary quality of his work, Henricks has made a generous contribution to his community. A contribution that unfolds in many ways, from supporting the development of young artists' practice in institutional or non-institutional settings, to enriching the discourse around the works of his peers, to contributing to the influence and balance of Montreal's visual and media arts ecosystem.

- Excerpt from the presentation text for Nelson Henricks' nomination for the Prix Robert-Forget 2024.

As part of this publication, you will find a video corpus selected by Nelson Henricks, available free of charge on Vithèque for a limited time.

Window

1997

3:00

Over the course of one year, I periodically shot footage from the front window of my third floor apartment. This became the basic material for Window, a video about knowing. How do we come to know a place or a person? Through repetitions and variations, our knowledge comes from more than one unique experience. It is the sum of many things. "The sum of all sight and sound. The sum of all motion". Window attempts to show how a whole can be more than merely the sum of its parts.

Nelson Henricks

Crush

1997

12:00

Crush is the story of a man who wants to turn himself into an animal, as told by the man himself, and one or two observers. He employs a variety of techniques to transform himself into a beast. He cuts off parts of his body. He exercises. He swims. He wants to return to the water to speed up evolution a little. Has he gone mad, or is he just tired of being human? As the narrator descends into his private obsession, we begin to perceive the distorted outlines of reason which guide his descent. The trajectory he defines allows us to reflect upon the correlations between the body and identity, our culture's obsession with the body beautiful, and what it means to be human.

Conspiracy of Lies

1992

11:54

"Conspiracy of Lies speaks of the alienation of minorities, consumer culture, urban isolation and the fine balance between mental order and chaos. The tape begins with my voice recounting the story of the discovery of a series of diary entries and lists written by an anonymous author. When I found the texts, I assumed the author to be a white, gay man like myself. Through the use of twelve narrators of different race, gender, religion and sexual orientation, I attempted to destabilize my own subjectivity and challenge my pre-existing assumptions regarding difference. The tape begins and end with two texts written by myself. This, I hope, helps to render the boundary between myself and the anonymous author more fluid, thereby questioning the 'authority' of authorship."

Nelson Henricks

Shimmer

1995

7:33

Our apartment was one hundred years old, and it was haunted. Friends suggested that we paint a black spot on the ceiling to get rid of the ghost. She wasn't a bad ghost, she was just an old hooker. She kept turning the front hall light on and off, and opening doors for her johns, who came at all hours of the night. She loved sex and she loved parties, so we were forced to have sex and parties all the time to appease her. Other ghosts were also there: immigrants who spoke neither English nor French. They had come from far away, and longed to return to their homelands. Sometimes they sang sad songs. Shimmer started as their story. My grandmother's story, my parents' story and mine got mixed up with their's along the way.

Nelson Henricks

Time Passes

1998

6:30

Using a Super 8 camera, Henricks employed time-lapse photography to document the interior and exterior of his apartment. Inspired by the work of Virginia Woolf, this video uses writing as a metaphor to speak of notions of temporality and impermanence.

My Heart the Interior Decorator

2006

1:49

So you get home from the store with a large cardboard box and you realize your ability to assemble this piece of furniture is significant. It's a barometer of your future relationship. Maybe you won't make it. Maybe you'll start fighting. Burst out crying. Abandon the whole project and send this pile of arbourite, plastic and pressed wood out onto the sidewalk. You open the box together and try to decipher the Swedish instructions, which don't seem to represent the thing you are trying to build. But gradually, it comes together, and soon the two of you are standing in front of a beautiful armoir - or bookshelf - or whatever it was you felt you were lacking. There's a mysterious aggregate of left-over pieces that you are uncertain what to do with, but they don't worry you to much. You are filled with an emotion that is no so much pride as it is relief. I think every couple reaches that sad day when you go to IKEA and come home empty handed. You search through all of those weird household tableaus searching for something, but find nothing you want. You don't even bring home a box of candles. You lack nothing. You are fulfilled.

Nelson Henricks

My Heart the Devil

2002

1:19

Playing video art backwards reveals satanic messages! Media artists express their devotion to the dark arts! Be afraid! Be very afraid!

Planétarium

2001

20:33

A whimsical science-fiction comedy soundtracked to a mix of pop music and experimental electronica, Planetarium explores our current fascinations with ufology, extraterrestrials and the future. A post-fin de siècle ode to the death of utopia, this video contrasts the vastness of outer space with the capacity to imagine; the cosmos that surrounds us an universe that exists inside our heads. File under experimental. Play at maximum volume.

Legend

1988

27:30

Legend consists of a series of nine related segments which convey a non-linear narrative using techniques drawn from poetry, folk songs, and traditional story-telling. The videotape fonctions as a list of the factors that contribute to the formation of one's identity : nationalism, the family, society, memory, mass media, and so on. These themes are dealt with through a number of metaphors wich focus on maps, photography, landscape and the notion of the journey. Reference is also made to both popular culture and fine art, particularly the video-clip, and portrait and landscape painting. The tape is meant to function on two levels: one trying to determine an individual's identity, while the other attemps to locate a regional or national identity.

Emission

1994

12:00

The videotape Emission found its origin in three performances which the author wrote between 1988 and 1991. In their original form, the performances dealt with sex, romance and communications technologies. The videotape explores the regression of the individual to his most primitive instincts, particularly when faced with difficulties of language and communication with others. Torn between the desire for a more direct contact and a more sophisticated relationship, the experience is decoded differently by each individual. Ultimately, and with much perseverance, is the hope that one can "keep talking" and therefore remain human.

Murderer's Song

1991

26:28

The videotape Murderers Song is based on the true story of a mother and son team, and their involvement in the murder of a R.C.M.P. officer. My interest in the subject matter arose primarily out my memories of a brief childhood friendship I had with the assassin, Andrew Kay. Divided into six sections, the tape is comprised of text derived from newspaper accounts, original music and theatrical tableaux, in order to investigate the passage of fact into folklore. References are made to themes of destiny and fate, the end of innocence, and the great western tradition of tragedy.

E for Excel

1999

52

"When I want to chew gum, it's not just any gum..."

Satellite

2004

5:48

In the video Satellite, Nelson Henricks combines found footage and techno beats to question western society's ongoing obsession with science, technology and the future. Juxtaposing images derived from old educational films with absurd, aphoristic slogans, Henricks offers up a witty, entertaining and provocative commentary of our need to make sense of everything, at any cost.

Sénégal / Québec : Échanges?

2006

18:05

With this video, Henricks and Pathé Sow present two realities : a Québecois/Canadian/North American context dominated by consumerism, speed (rushing), and a lack of openness towards other civilisations, and a Senegalese reality marked by poverty, and a thirst for wealth and ease. The video is based on images filmed in Senegal and Canada. The final work is the result of a conversation between Amadou Pathé Sow, a new immigrant of Senegalese origin and Nelson Henricks, a Montreal artist originally from Alberta.

My Heart... Series 4

2004

5:10

My Heart the Devil, Nikki Forrest & Nelson Henricks (1 min. 07) : Playing video art backwards reveals satanic messages! Media artists express their devotion to the dark arts! Be afraid! Be very afraid!

My Heart the Realtor, Laurel woodcock (2 min. 08) : The use of an everyday object attempts to transform a dystopic metaphor.

My Heart the Interior Decorator, Nelson Henricks (1 min. 49) : "So you get home from the store with a large cardboard box and you realize your ability to assemble this piece of furniture is significant. It's a barometer of your future relationship…"

Failure

2007

7:00

Images of beauty rituals - both masculine and feminine - focus on the removal of body hair. Scenes of adolescent embarrassment are played out in adult life. Gender confusion lurks behind the curtain. Impoverished aesthetics. Popular music.

Compte à rebours

2007

30

System. Quantity. Price. Height. Weight. Length. Distance. Location. Duration. Volume. Intensity. Total. Rulers. Calculators. Thermometers. Telephones. Computers. Even. Odd. Year. Month. Day. Dice. Cards. Games. Unlucky. Lucky. Hour. Minute. Second.

My Heart the Philosopher

2001

1:37

A collaborative project initiated by Nikki Forrest, Annie Martin and Nelson Henricks, who have produced a number of short video works on the theme of 'love'. Each one approaches the theme from a different angle, be it love's generosity, lust, romantic addiction, erotic compulsion, unstable identities, obsession, or the search for love. The resulting catalogue of works creates an index of the different aspects of love that's as dizzying and diverse as our experience of love itself.

Compte à rebours

2007

30

System. Quantity. Price. Height. Weight. Length. Distance. Location. Duration. Volume. Intensity. Total. Rulers. Calculators. Thermometers. Telephones. Computers. Even. Odd. Year. Month. Day. Dice. Cards. Games. Unlucky. Lucky. Hour. Minute. Second.