an audiovisual work by Ian Breakwell

which makes reference to 291 Gallery's previously ecclesiastical space

On a large rectangular wall screen, sited where the main church altar previously was, is projected a 72-minute audio-visual digitally animated DVD which plays repeatedly throughout the evening with synchronised sound from stereo speakers. The intense saturated blue of the projection screen is the only light source in the blacked-out space.

The projection visuals consist of two static images digitally animated:

- A vertical format blue-toned image derived from an actual X-ray of a woman who had swallowed a crucifix, a literal absorption of the physical embodiment of Christ instead of the abstracted sacramental symbol.

- A similarly blue-toned, horizontal format image of the words DEEP FAITH in a typeface based on the Book of Common Prayer

The two images dissolve throughout the 40 seconds, slowly and repeatedly, thus forming for part of each dissolve a cruciform configuration.

The accompanying music, by Messiaen, plays continuously throughout the 72 minutes of the projection without repeating. Slow paced and seamless with a hypnotic, trance-like quality, it is played by Keith Wright on the organ of Durham Cathedral, recorded live in the organ loft.

DEEP FAITH is an atmospherically ambient work which can be entered at any point & contemplatively experienced for an indefinite duration.

Ian Breakwell exhibits regularly at Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London. His artworks in many different media are in public collections including the Tate, where his Walking Man Diary was featured in the exhibition Self Evident from October 2002 - January 2003. Ian Breakwell's previous site-specific video and film installation The Other Side ran for ten weeks at the De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill on Sea to great public and critical acclaim in Spring 2002. A major innovator in a wide range of media for over thirty years, Ian Breakwell's continually challenging work remains highly influential on new generations of artists in the UK.