Robert Frankle

Description

This video work consists of a number of small scenes, which depict examples of a type of obsessive-compulsive disorder: the need to check whether things are closed, locked, or turned off: doors, faucets, switches, and so forth. The work has been conceived to be presented in two forms: an installation in which the viewer is surrounded by all of the obsessive actions at the same time and a single channel video that jumbles all of the actions.

In the single channel version, at first, the viewer sees the obsessive verification of closing a door, which soon passes to other actions. Shortly thereafter, the actions are jumbled so that only a part of each action is shown at a time. The video switches to another action and then yet another. After a while, the various actions reappear in another phase of the checking process, but never in the same order.

The intention of the work is not only to present the obsession. The act of jumbling the obsessive actions heightens the sensation of obsessiveness, providing the viewer with a sense of the mind obsessed by checking an object without ever truly being able to satisfy the impulse to check. It may also remind viewers of their own personal checking obsessions or of that of someone in their family or circle of friends.