RES MAGAZINE — Slater Bradley Feature by Claudine Isé

Slater Bradley’s approach to video has been described as “mock verité,” a style that melds factuality with artful manipulation. The awkward, caught-on-the-fly appearance of Bradley’s video reflect his fascination with the fictional strategies of “documentary” media, such as local news stations’ use of amateur video footage and the “crisis structure” of breaking news stories (car chases, the death of a celebrity, a sensational murder). In a world where “truth” is increasingly judged on surface appearance, is it still possible to believe in the authentic – or to even conceive of it?

“I see the girl as a Sisyphian type of hero,” Bradley recently observed. “The look back, the pause, the hour of consciousness – this the where the inherent structure of video art interest me. She is condemned to repeat the act, she is looped, she will always return with a flower in hand mourning a god she does not know. Is this tragic, or in this repetition, does she control her fate, is she happy?”