Bress gives the backstory behind the characters in two of his video works from 2012. Both characters emerged from two-dimensional sketches: The Cowboy from a sketch on graph paper and The Architect from a collage. In both videos, the characters are extruded from two-dimensional form into three-dimensional performance, and compressed back again into the two-dimensional screen. Obscured by masks, each character blindly performs the actions used to create himself: the Cowboy appears to doodle on the monitor, while the Architect stacks a pile of precarious objects. The images and presentation of these works are slick and seamless, managing to even embody some of the wetness of painting, yet the action them still remains unpredictable and true to the concerns evident in Bress' earlier work. The reflexive performances in Cowboy and Architect point to the improvisational kernel that lies at the heart of every work of art.   

 

Video directed and produced by Peter Kirby.

 

 

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