“Frandson Bahati is a predominantly video-based artist whose work focuses on moments or people; as he observes situations, re-watches, internalises and thinks about what they meant to him.” (Window Gallery, 2020)
(Dis)honesty sets up a peek into this process. Three small vintage television screens sit adjacent, on high hollow stands with its wires dangling below. They play a collection of moving images strung together by one face. You’d think that having multiple screens accompanied by the wires would be disruptive, but Bahati’s piece creates a luminescence that can only be attained by the texture and rhythm his videos procure as a collective. It’s visual ecstasy.
The piece has a specific seduction that draws the viewer with its array of color, movement, and grainy texture that one can taste… but the hypnosis lies here: the untold connection between the clips create a fog, yet still bargain for a cohesive narrative. They’re like memories that rekindle in your brain; ones that you only remember for a glimpse but the common denominator is that they remain your own.These are done in perfect correlation to (Dis)honesty’s wistful aesthetic, with the cyber-aged televisions they create a nostalgic air that makes the viewer yearn for similar moments in their lives. Frandson Bahati “looks for ways to bend the truth of a moment or exaggerate […] to amplify feelings or ideas that he had towards that particular moment” and has consummated this with such tenderness in (Dis)honesty.
Exhibit open @ Window Gallery, UoA Library, until October 7, 2020.
