Starfucker, 14' (2001)
Etchells' single channel video Starfucker playfully explores the absurdity of turning language into film, creating a mischievous, virtual movie using text and soundtrack. The viewer is invited to imagine a catalogue of Hollywood A and B list stars in a sequence of unlikely violent or intimate scenarios - death, danger, jetlag, boredom, sex and sickness. The written text - unfolding line by line in white type on black screen - functions to summon events, actions and images directly in the mind of the viewer, while John Avery's minimalist atmospheric soundtrack underscores the mood invoked by the text.

Fog Game, 10' (2010)
Etchells' video Fog Game shows two separate groups of distant figures attempting to play ball games in heavy fog on a sand beach. Their indecipherable games overlap, weaving through each other, with the core of the action always missing as the camera is centered on the outer edges of each game. At times, individual figures are seen running across the frame,their paths crossing those of other players. Many of the games’ participants stand still for long periods of time, appearing to wait for some unknown event.

BIOGRAPHY
Tim Etchells (1962) is an artist and a writer based in the UK whose work shifts between performance, visual art and fiction. He has worked in a wide variety of contexts, notably as the leader of the world - renowned Sheffield - based performance group Forced Entertainment. He is currently Professor of Performance at Lancaster University. In recent years he has exhibited widely in the context of visual arts, participating in biennales Manifesta 7 (2008) in Rovereto, Italy; Art Sheffield 2008; Goteborg Bienale (2009); October Salon Belgrade (2010) and Manifesta 9 (Parallel Projects) 2012. Recent publications include Vacuum Days (Storythings, 2012), While You Are With Us Here Tonight (LADA, 2013).

Artist's Page + Forced Entertainment