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David Claerbout — Dancing Couples (after: Couples at square dance, McIntosh County, Oaklahoma, 1939 or 1940)
David Claerbout

Dancing Couples (after: Couples at square dance, McIntosh County, Oaklahoma, 1939 or 1940)

A silent, colour video projection spanning a 40-minute loop, David Claerbout's work reimagines a historical photograph of couples dancing at a square dance in rural Oklahoma, captured around 1939 or 1940. Claerbout breathes uncanny life into the archival image by animating the figures in subtle, continuous movement, suspending them in an eternal, dreamlike state between stillness and motion. The work meditates on the passage of time, memory, and the tension between the photographic document and the living moment it seeks to preserve.

Medium
silent, colour, single channel video projection, 40 minute loop

🔨 Auction Lot

Contemporary Art Day Sale

October 16, 2014

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About this work

David Claerbout, Dancing Couples (after: Couples at square dance, McIntosh County, Oaklahoma, 1939 or 1940)

A silent, colour video projection spanning a 40-minute loop, David Claerbout's work reimagines a historical photograph of couples dancing at a square dance in rural Oklahoma, captured around 1939 or 1940. Claerbout breathes uncanny life into the archival image by animating the figures in subtle, continuous movement, suspending them in an eternal, dreamlike state between stillness and motion. The work meditates on the passage of time, memory, and the tension between the photographic document and the living moment it seeks to preserve.

Medium
silent, colour, single channel video projection, 40 minute loop
Seen at
Phillips, New York, London, Hong Kong

Related themes

Figures, Joyful, Looped, Dance, Video Installation, Movement, Belgian, Colorful, Contemporary, Social

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