Video making has an inherent connection with light. For this exhibition of new commissioned video works, Kim Coleman & Jenny Hogarth focused on making and destroying the effects of light.

Coleman & Hogarth’s collaborative practice placed a special emphasis on the participatory and performative aspects of art practice. They worked with video and more specifically light, as a malleable and transient material to create immersive installations and sculptural objects. Their performances extended the collaborative relationship further, with audience participation at times essential to their execution, bringing a degree of spontaneity and improvisation to staged events. Relationships between the artificial and the natural were an ongoing area of interest and in *Glare*** this was investigated through an exploration of the performativity of people and technology.

The combination of props and projections in Glare suggested the set of a fashion shoot. By exposing the mechanics of production, the artists allowed the exchange between camera and subject to be examined. Objects under the glare of the camera appeared to ‘perform’ as attention was drawn to the supporting props disrupting the usual hierarchies that exist between subject, camera and background.

The choreographed installation of projected videos explored a range of visual effects and processes achieved through the manipulation of mirrors, light, repetitive processes and movement. The artists playfully reminded us that even in a seemingly controlled environment, chance, circumstance and interaction all have their part to play.

As with their performances, the exhibition featured elements of both the prepared and the unpredicted – disclosure and concealment – allowing ideas and potential from both to emerge. The works circumspectly unravelled the relationship between the camera, its subject and its maker through various techniques of disclosure.

Glare demonstrated Coleman & Hogarth’s interest in the interplay between the controlled and the contrived to test if and where elements of either may reside.