Film for Thought

In The Long Dissolve, a nine-minute film loop by video artist Burt Barr, an ice cube melts on a saucer. And that's all. Barr -- who's scored such honors as a Guggenheim fellowship and a slew of museum shows -- works both inside and outside the world of moviemaking. This piece's title, of course, is a sly reference to a technical term; it's an inside joke for filmmakers and those who watch films.

Barr's Rain Piece -- the only other work in his current show at Lawing Gallery -- aims for something more unnerving. Black-and-white videos play on two movie screens, repeating every 15 minutes. On the top screen, you look through a parked car's windshield to see a man sitting behind the wheel. Rain spills down the windshield, and the wipers move back and forth hypnotically. Eventually, a woman -- previously unseen -- sits up. Her head had been in the man's lap.

They sit in their respective seats for what seems a long time. They say nothing. There is only movement -- deliberate and haunting movement. (Both actors are professional dancers.) Finally, the balletic caresses lead to an embrace. But you do not know the couple's relationship, and when they finally disentangle, you are still clueless.

All this time, the bottom screen shows a rain-beaten road. The picture skips, and the impression is one of a person stumbling away from something. He or she moves but never arrives anywhere.

Which is, of course, a metaphor for the viewer's own experience: You watch, but you do not reach a satisfying conclusion. You leave uncomfortable, your cherished understanding of time, narrative and human relationships disrupted.

-- Paul Perry

"Burt Barr" runs until October 24. Lawing Gallery is located at 214 Travis Street between Congress Avenue and Franklin Street in the Market Square historic district. Hours are 11:00 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday.