hill-page

To take yourself out of the situation, away from the people or the subject of your antagonism, to drive out of a city, to somewhere beautiful and isolated. To walk up a hill, set up a camera not really knowing why, then walk back down. Now it is your time, let go of that knot that's disabling you from wringing out everything that's hurting, despairing, angering, frustrating and run, and stomp like a child arms flailing, SCREAM, release it all.

That is exactly what Victoria Melody has done for years. It is a record of her misery turned into slapstick by the speeding up of the camera. Like a Laurel and Hardy sketch where a painful fall, or a humiliating moment is made laughable. The artist wants you to laugh with her, not to indulge her with pity, after all the sadness is only in the moment, the only part you see. What happens after the hill scream? Nothing probably, life continues, maybe calmer, maybe more bearable, maybe exactly the same as before.

This video diary is a laborious process only to release a build up of anger that lasts momentarily. After driving around and finding a suitable location, Melody walks up the hill and sets up the camera, runs back down and then runs back up towards the camera that is placed in front of the spot where she intends to scream. To the artist, the recording of this action is vital (this work is added to when necessary), yet to us, the viewer, we are not only faced with her screaming but with vast landscapes set out behind her.