Tonguings

Tonguings

Terry Fox
1970, 21 min, b&w, sound

Description

Reflecting a duality typical of the body-based video of the 1970s, Tonguings is at once conceptual and sensual. The viewer sees Fox's open mouth in extreme close-up, as he proceeds through an exhaustive demonstration of positions of the tongue in relation to the lips. While restricted in subject, setting, and the possibility of narrative movement, Fox's "tonguings" generate tension through their exploration of repetition and difference, appearing variously suggestive of absurdity, sexuality, abjection, and menace.