You Can’t Get There From Here Redux by Liss Platt
2008, 10 minutes, bicycle performance with 16mm colour film and audio on cassette

A re-edited version of a short experimental documentary of the same name (made in 2005). The Redux version of this piece is more gestural and less narrative than the original, and is presented in a performance where I peddle a bicycle to power the projector. To keep the film running at the proper speed and the image bright I must peddle continuously and at a fast pace. The performance forefronts my body – its effort and struggle – underscoring themes that are explored in the film.

My labored breathing and the sounds of the bike mingle with the film soundrack, blurring the boundary between the film and my performance. Cacophonous, contradictory, and constantly on the move, this coming of age story is rife with burgeoning queer desire, adolescent rebelliousness, and family crisis. Ultimately, the film is about the irreconcilability of striving for and running from, of growing up and shutting down, of pursuit and flight. You can’t get there from here.