PLAY: (Enjoy) the Ride

While watching any number of Aïda Ruilova's videos in succession, it is tempting to grab for the remote control and press PAUSE, REWIND, MUTE or even STOP - anything to regain a sense of composure given what can hardly be described as a comfortable viewing experience.

This impulse, however, never meets with an overwhelming desire to press REPEAT since Ruilova already incorporates this function into the editing process, whereby she dices short clips of slightly differentiated scenes with sharp-edged precision. Ruilova creates a similar set-up in each of the dozen or so single-channel videos and projections she has made since 1999. Many run for less than a minute and feature young men and women who scream, grunt, whimper and otherwise taunt viewers with repeated utterances such as 'let's go', 'almost' and 'come here'. These phrases, which double as titles, coincide with the equally abrupt gestures of the various protagonists she captures through tightly cropped camera shots that stop and start and zoom in and out. This repetitive quality, compounded by an installation style that groups monitors with looped tapes, produces the alternately dizzying and mesmerising effect, and compels viewers to watch the videos over and over again.

PAUSE: The Subject in Question

As unnerving as they are to watch, the videos offer some satisfaction. By taking them at face value we come to understand how basic combinations of sound, image and structure work to both grant and deny access to Ruilova's work. Nowhere is this more apparent than in her process of rapid-fire editing, for this is what ensures that mere glimpses of hair, gaping mouths, bare chests and turned backs translate onscreen. An example