I’ve Been Shot is a video installation that examines the macho performance of agony through the cinematic form of “the take”. In the video, a man perseveres through excruciating pain while desperately attempting to save his own life. Nursing a potentially fatal bullet wound to the chest, the man drags himself across the concrete floor towards a red phone, presumably to call for an ambulance, but before he can lift the receiver the video cuts to yet another take of the same performance. This humourous rearticulation of the Sisyphean myth pokes fun at machismo in both action movies, where male protagonists triumph despite severe injury, and performance art such as the work of Chris Burden who endures pain in the name of art.

Please note, the video posted here is only a 5 minute extract of the entire piece.

Credits:

Performance: Robert Lendrum
Director of Photography: Allie Caldwell
Editor: Robert Lendrum
Lighting: Vincent Lafrance

Exhibitions

2011 The Message. Gallery 1313. Toronto, ON.
2008 I’ve Been Shot. XBASE, Xpace Cultural Centre. Toronto, ON.

Press

Gibson, Allison. “Robert Lendrum: I’ve Been Shot”. DailyServing June 28, 2010.

[Show as slideshow]