Untitled (2002) In a performance for the camera, Mabley-Allen (trained as an actor) attempts to portray a close friend; together we try to create a valid representation of a missing person we both love. His actions are repetitive and he is frustrated by the difficulty of his task; in a voice-over he discusses his strategies and the experience of making the work. The voice-over is edited to be somewhat more repetitive and halting than the original text, and mirrors the video's awkward near-successes. The viewer catches only glimpses of the missing person's traits. The shoulders were the first thing. I don't think I ever quite got it right. I sort of made some assumptions that I went with and they weren't entirely correct. I was really surprised at how I got the jaw sometimes, I think that was maybe the most successful thing, which is strange because he has such a different jaw than me. I don't know. The smile, a few times, that worked well. The hands are sort of an obvious place to start and sort of nice to start with because there's just so much range of motion in the hands- it's kind of easy to make shapes with the hands and sort of think about if you're getting it right.. but I think for him it actually is really important, too. There's just a lot that goes on there. It's sort of strange I noticed when I was doing it that, um, it was strange watching myself do it on the video and watching the playback because, um, since I was thinking about him the whole time, the way he looks, it was strange to see myself. The shoulders were the first thing, and sometimes the hands were good. The smile, a few times, that worked well. Walking I almost never got anything.
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