Duster

Description:

Duster is a single-channel video by Rebecca Belmore, Hank Bull, and Eric Metcalfe that deconstructs the concept of “the Western.”

At the centre of Duster are the scheming MacBooty Brothers (Bull and Metcalfe), whose greed ignites an epic chase for a treasured skull. Standing in their way is an alliance between saloon owner Gertrude Stein (Cornelia Wyngaarden), the enigmatic, shapeshifting Wizard and Conchita (Warren Arcand), and the Hi-tech Tipi Trauma Mama (Belmore). Together, they work to protect the precious remains from the Macbootys and the exploitative tycoon Dark Day (Fraser Finlayson). 

Their pursuit stretches across a desert, a ghost town, a lost mine, and even a cable shopping channel. Unfolding on hand-painted sets, on location in a historic pioneer town, and onstage during a live taping in the Grand Luxe Hall, Duster offers a meditation on love, death, identity, narrative, and a reverence for ancestors. 

Video documentation is available upon request.