Doug Aitken

Published by Deste Foundation for Contemporary Art

Preface by Dakis Joannou.

Doug Aitken’s Black Mirror is a meditation on the rootlessness and the extreme virtuality of contemporary existence. Comprised of a site-specific multi-channel video installation and a live theater performance at the Deste Foundation Project Space, Slaughterhouse, on the Greek island of Hydra, it stars Chloë Sevigny as a nomadic individual traversing airport terminals, hotel lobbies and car rental kiosks, communicating in quick pulses and travelling long distances for short meetings. The video installation was shot in and around Athens and Hydra, as well as Cancun, Mexico; Albuquerque and Gallup, New Mexico; Flagstaff and Arcosanti, Arizona; and Palm Springs, California. The performance was staged on a barge off Athens, and featured Sevigny, gospel singers, strippers and musicians, Los Angeles underground rock duo No Age and Greek percussionists.