Gary Hill's Video Installations Challenge Perception at Galerie In Situ-Fabienne Leclerc

Gary Hill, a major figure in video art since the late 1970s, presented three installations at Galerie In Situ-Fabienne Leclerc in Paris from September 13 to October 20, 2012. The exhibition explored the relationships between language, thought, images, and the body, aiming to open the doors of perception. In 'Isolation Tank' (2010-2011), a silent video projection shows an endless sea with a surfboard drifting into view, only to recede, denying narrative. 'Cutting Corners Creates More Side' (2011-2012) uses split-screen with shifting focus, revealing abstract surfaces and fleeting materials like iron and string, accompanied by an elusive voice-over. 'Depth Charge' (2009-2012) features a hologram of musician Bill Frisell performing Edgard Varèse's 'Un grand sommeil noir' (1906), alongside five monitors showing Hill under the influence of LSD, filmed by his wife. In 'The Psychedelic Gedankenexperiment', Hill, dressed as a mad scientist in an anechoic chamber, argues that LSD constitutes the perfect artwork, enhancing sensations. The performance was recorded backwards and inverted, making it nearly incomprehensible, emphasizing the inassimilable nature of the experience. Hill contends that both art and LSD disrupt cognitive and perceptual routines to access other levels of consciousness.