Tactile

Description:

Paul Lang’s video work Tactile explores themes of connection and disruption through a constellation of associations across image and sound. The four-minute piece employs computer graphics and editing software to combine animation with live documentation. Lang overlaid images of industrial sites, autumnal landscapes, and a cultural parade with textile patterns, drawing poetic connections between nature, infrastructure, and culture through the metaphor of weaving. This theme is further developed through narration by Odile Melançon, who recites a poem composed of words associated with the act of joining (such as weaving, blending, mending, and welding) in multiple languages. As the voices accumulate, the polyphonic layering renders her speech increasingly unintelligible, evoking both unity and discord. 

Tactile debuted at a screening event on April 18, 1987 by the Western Front Video Collective. 

Video documentation is available upon request.