Dust Devil
Jaxton Su, Singapore
2020
Two Channel Video and Sand
06:39 / loop
Dust Devil is a video installation that stems from three poems written by myself during a disconcerting time of isolation. I created an otherworldly landscape inspired by personal experiences, memories and obsessions. The work plays with poetic rhythms as it speaks using a language of duality—of an interior and an exterior, of distance and intimacy, of longing and indifference, and of growing and waning.
In my practice, I have always been keen on drawing metaphorical parallels between natural phenomena and the self as I experiment with various mediums. Nature, like the human psyche, is often hard to grasp, at times mysterious and unpredictable as it evolves over time. I often imagine the psyche as otherworldly landscapes to make sense of it and to find a way to visualise it. Sometimes, I think of volcanoes, sometimes the desert, and sometimes the forest, etc. Dust Devil is one of these experimentations where I utilise photographs and clips from my archive of images captured at various locations—one of the few materials I had with me during the Circuit Breaker period. The desert scenes were taken at Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands, while the scenes of trees were taken in Scotland.
Dust Devil is part of Sandstorm in an Hourglass exhibition curated by Magdalen Chua.
Subtitles / Poems:
A silent scream
Echoes through the cavities.
Indifference presses on,
Where empty trees stood still.
Unending sea of mounding dust-
Land of the forlorn.
Merciless wail;
Rush of chill.
Memories under illusive veil.
To unearth or to entomb?
Acute moments, I once feel.
Voices besiege an empty room.
Evanescent flames to unsettled dust,
Dancing amongst chilling gust.
Shadows pursue a single soul.
Never fading; unswerving past.
The void filled with age’s rust.
Undisclosed desires grow.
First channel
© Jaxton Su
Second channel
© Jaxton Su
First channel
© Jaxton Su
Second channel
© Jaxton Su
First channel
© Jaxton Su
Second channel
© Jaxton Su
Installation view of Dust Devil at The Substation.
Photo credit: Shian Bang
Installation view of Dust Devil at The Substation.
Photo credit: Shian Bang
Installation view of Dust Devil at Tzu Chi Humanistic Centre.
Photo credit: Shian Bang
Jaxton Su is a visual artist who works with painting, installation and video art. He holds a Master of Fine Art from The Glasgow School of Art (United Kingdom) and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), where he currently teaches. His notable endeavours include solo exhibitions Not all who wander are lost and Two Worlds; One Fantasy at Blue Lotus Fine Art (Singapore). He has also presented internationally in an array of festivals, residencies and exhibitions including Edinburgh International Science Festival, Lanzarote Art Festival, Taiwan Annual, Geumgang Nature Art Biennale, SIM Residency Iceland, and Art Safiental.
Visit his website here:www.jaxtonsu.net
