Thuistezien 136 — 31.11.2020

Reynold Reynolds
Secret Machine


All the clocks ticking in the striking household we get acquainted with in Secret Machine are, to say the least, remarkable. In the dreamlike world portrayed by Reynold Reynolds in Secret Machine, we follow the bodily movements and actions of a young woman. She seems trapped within a arithmetic equation, which reveals itself in several experiments. The aesthetics are reminiscent of the well-known images of a running horse, taken by photographer Eadward Muybridge. Muybridge designed a special technique that allowed movement to be captured, back in the 19th century.

While the mice in the bookcase are crawling between different interpretations of reality, Reynolds shows the movements of the body in various ways by using different film techniques. The techniques that the American artist apply show the movements in a different way than a standard video camera, which, like our eyes, cannot register details of a subject in motion. Now the camera itself also becomes a measuring instrument. Because at times Reynolds uses a kind of triptych, with different sequences in Secret Machine, you can come back to the film several times, and discover something new again and again.

Secret Machine was exhibited by West in September 2011, and was part of the Six Pieces expo. It is the second part of the Trilogy called Secrets. The Alaskan-born artist was influenced by philosophy and science early in his career, primarily working with 16mm as a medium. In Reynolds' creations with this medium, his vision seems to merge together with the technical specifications of the machine. Through the gaze of this camera he shines a different light on reality, thus making us more aware of the small frames that we often use to get a grip on reality.