Viewing page 25 of 49

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

22

of the image and a great deal of apparent repetition of objects.  For example, one might attempt to establish fixed points of reference in order to determine the number of revolutions the camera makes around the room.  From this information, one could roughly determine its size.
At the end of the tape, the circular tracking ends and the camera begins to track backward toward the center of the room.  This movement takes a considerable period of time and ultimately reveals the space to be that of an extremely large loft.  At this point the viewer realizes, probably with a good deal of surprise, that any stable points of reference that might have been found were illusory:  there has been only a single revolution.  The final revelation of the room's character dissipates the considerable tension that had been created. 
3 Mercer Street, produced in 1975, also involves a circular camera motion around an interior space.  In this work, however, there is a much larger viewing angle and it is perfectly apparent that the space is a rather small, empty storefront.  We see its features repeatedly--a large front window opening out onto a dark street, a back door, pillars, and so on--as the camera continues its incessant panning motion.
During each of these revolutions, the viewer is presented with the image of a performer engaged in