Prologues and Variations 

Sixteen-channel video installation, 2018.

 “He slipped his hand in among the flowers and broke off a twig. He tore the  leaves from the base of the branch, turning nature to culture, making it more pleasing to look at. The petals were white, an apple or pear or quince. He did not know which.”


A series of sixteen short, diaristic videos that chart the serpentine path a writer takes towards completing a manuscript.



A liminal space of longing and desire is portrayed, filled with acts of thinking, reading, reflecting, writing, rewriting, transcribing, editing, singing and seeking counsel from friends, flowers, photographs and the books of admired authors, including M. Agayev, Jean Genet, Joris-Karl Huysman, and Sarah Schulman. 



Prologues and Variations was commissioned by Giovanna Thierry of the Stuttgarter Filmwinter and premièred with the German title «Prologen und Variationen» at the Stadtbibliothek Stuttgart. Cinematography by Bastien Pourtout. German translations by Nicola Halschke. 


Handwritten translations of the dialogue and textual elements into German were made available in front of each viewing station.