Stewart doesn't like too much hoo-hah, his videos are usually monochrome and sober, as was seen in Flat Earth (1994). He doesn't change in Familiar Image either. In a rough texture, we see a series of old photographs, all more or less posed portraits, that Stewart found on the market during his stay in the Netherlands in 1995. In a flickering light, they rise up out of the darkness. The English commentary with a heavy east European accent describes the subjects of the portraits: not who they were, or what kind of life they led, but just their external appearance. Highly detailed and objective, like the description of a painting in an old collection catalogue from the Rijksmuseum. Long before he has finished with his account, the voice fades away and the portrait disappears to make room for the next. Stewart makes a reproduction (video) of a reproduction (photos) and thereby muses if reality can be reproduced at all. This video was originally part of the installation Under the (river)bed which was exhibited in the Elba gallery in Nijmegen.
– Lies Holtrop
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Text Sharon Kivland, Sound Conor Kelly, Sound mixing Lawrence Baxter, Editing Sarah Hardy, Voice Igor Zvonic, Thanks to Sheffield Hallam University, Northern Media School, Elba International Artists Residency
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