What was America’s collective state of mind really like on 31 October 2016? In this series of videos by Cornelia Parker, we see New Yorkers queuing up to celebrate Halloween. But does the fright they’re anticipating have anything to do with ghosts and ghouls?
Parker’s slow-motion iPhone footage captures the city’s inhabitants little more than a week before the election of Donald Trump as US president and exposes a sense of unease lurking beneath the surface.
In one video, a reveller has even dressed up as Trump himself, complete with long red tie and masking tape for eyebrows. The costume is more chilling than any werewolf or butcher could manage. In another, we see supporters of the Donald himself, waving their anti-Clinton posters outside Trump Tower.
The American Gothic videos were inspired, says Parker, by the paintings of Edward Hopper and the red barn from Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 film Psycho. The have an unsettling edge, amplified by the flashing of police lights, the pitched-down soundtrack and – of course – the sense of what’s to come.
These videos will be available to view on the Frith Street Gallery’s Vimeo page until 3 October.
