Men in the Wall
Men in the Wall is a 25 minute looped four-screen 3D stereoscopic screen dance installation that re-defines dance screen practice. This is a 3D world of four men whose shared framed lives reveal a public quartet of private differences.

Performers: Jeddi Bassan, Sebastian Gonzalez, Thomas Kampe, Scott Smith.

Direction/Choreography : liz aggiss and Billy Cowie

Made with an Arts Council Capture 2003 and University of Brighton Faculty Research Award, Men in the Wall re-locates the ‘live presence’ within screen practice; the performers embody theatrical conventions, they speak, dance, sing and communicate within real time, juxtaposed within a theatricality that suspends belief, whilst installed within the broader three dimensional space.

The curatorial placement of this work enables the audience to experience the space as ‘active’; the private and public domains of both audience and screen performers augment the real.

Men in the Wall is a complex 25 minute loop across four screen with a linear narrative and choreographic structure, giving a potential virgin viewing experience of one hour and 40 minutes.


Reviews
Credentials don't explain results. Men In The Wall enormously expands video's horizon. As each guy occupies his own space — now dancing, now playing the guitar while singing lieder — each acts as human semaphore, sending human-shaped signals. It's as tightly constructed as a classic American sitcom, and funnier than most.
Toronto Star Peter Goddard

aggiss and Cowie’s impression on the dance film excellence and innovation cannot be overestimated
Ballet Tanz Lizzy Le Quesne

Delightful. Situated against various backdrops (day, night, urban, coastal, etc), each male, a mixed batch of builds, temperaments and nationalities, dwells in his own walled square. They talk, sing, play music and move in a fashion stamped with the aggiss/Cowie signature of quirky-humoured poetry and askew beauty.
Dance Europe April 2004 Donald Hutera

Previous Exhibitions
2006 Wimbledon School of Art, Havant Arts Centre, Moderna Dans Teatern Stockholm Sweden, Pro-Arte Institute St. Petersburg Russia

2005 New Art Gallery Walsall, Worcester City Art Gallery and Museum

Leamington Spa Royal Pump Rooms, Corn Exchange Newbury, Shrewsbury Old Market Hall, IMZ Screen Dance Festival Brighton

2004 ICA London, South Gallery University of Brighton, Trinity Square Gallery Toronto Canada, The Arches National Review of Live Art Glasgow.