This work is a collaboration with Monique Moumblow
The experiences we render into story are integral parts of who we become. Yet some stories remembered are more significant than others. These stories are often comprised of “vital memories” (Brown and Leavy) that recall a moment of drama or trauma in a life. Vital stories are not always coherent, or consistent. We may tell them slightly differently, only recall fragments, or embellish. Although we may share them with others, we may also repress or forget details over time.
47 Storeys is one such vital story. In 1996 Paul Litherland went to a bar at the top of a very tall building, drank a beer, waited until the other patrons and staff left, then parachuted into the night-time sky, landing safely on the street to the astonishment of two late-night revelers. Three months after the jump, afraid of forgetting significant details, Paul commemorated his adventure to video. 20 years later Paul revisits the event with Monique Moumblow. They re-edit the original 43 minutes tape down to 11 minutes. Paul then attempts to re-enact his original mediated performance. On one screen we see Paul who sits, listens to himself through headphones, and speaks over his original narrative. On a second screen Paul attempts to duplicate his original performance word-for-word and gesture-by-gesture. On the third screen is the edited original. These three different renditions of the tale, from 3 different moments in time, are almost the same, but they never perfectly align. No matter how much we practice, the story is never exactly as it was.
47 Storeys is a brilliant and slightly comedic rendition of the “performative act of memory -making” (Kuhn). Narrating the past re-activates and catapults memories into the present, often with the help of souvenirs such as the video-tape and parachute equipment that Paul still keeps in his care. Paul’s fumbling narrative recollections lay bare this performative process of memory-making as past and present collide in a single temporal moment superbly visualized in this 3 channel video.
In the re-telling of this vital story grey-haired, bespectacled Paul moves in imperfect harmony with his former self. This temporal collision invites reflection upon both memory re-enactments, story-telling and the vagaries of ageing: “the permanently fluctuating relationships between younger and older selves” (Segal). We see, hear and feel these fluctuations, experiencing a vertigo of narrative mediation: Paul’s post-hoc memory is rendered into story and captured on video tape, which is then digitally remastered in the present for the future. It is the absence of documentation of the original event –no pictures, photos or go-pro video– that makes the re-telling of the story so necessary and so compelling. Thankfully, Paul lived to tell the tale, again and again.
Monique Moumblow is a video artist and a fan of spectacular storeys.
Paul Litherland is a gentleman adventurer, a closet scuba diver in a room full of wingsuiters.
Author: Kim Sawchuk (professor et director of Ageing-Communication-Technologies, Université Concordia)
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- Exhibition history
- 47 Stories
- (solo show)
- 7 September - 20 October, 2018
- Galerie Optica, Montreal
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- Other artist(s): Monique Moumblow
- 47 Storeys
- Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen
- (screening show)
- May 5, 2019
- Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen, Oberhausen, Germany
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- Program schedule (pdf)
- Other artist(s): Monique Moumblow
- Competition selection
- Message to Man Film Festival
- (screening show)
- 16, 17 September, 2019
- Rodina Cinema Centre, St Petersburg, Russia
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- Other artist(s): Monique Moumblow
- Curator(s): Mikhail Zheleznikov
- 47 Storeys page on festival site
- Whiteframe
- (screening show)
- October 29, 2019
- Kunsthaus Baselland, Basel, Switzerland
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- We all have stories to tell. Sharing stories helps us connect to each other, to our experiences and is often an invitation to step into unknown worlds. I thought of American photographer Diane Arbus who captured the private realities of life and her quote after looking at some of the works in this latest exhibition curated by Ines Goldbach. I gained insight into personal stories and they're changing narratives from some of the artistic propositions in this exhibition. For this fifth film night, I chose films that spoke about personal and collective stories coming from different parts of our world. In the past six months, I meet filmmakers and artists while attending some film festivals in Europe and in South America. Our encounters and their stories gave me a better understanding of their realities. Here are some of their stories bringing us closer.
- Other artist(s): Monique Moumblow
- Curator(s): Chantal Molleur
- Filmscreening #5
- Facade Video Festival
- (screening show)
- 21 September, 2019
- , Plovdiv, Bulgaria
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- Other artist(s): Monique Moumblow
- Facade Video Festival
- Production Credits
- Camera: Deborah VanSlet // Director: Monique Moumblow // Performance Coach, Alexis O'Hara
- Related documents
- Paul Litherland, "Skydiving Art", Canpara, August–September 2018
- International Competition 7, Sunday May 5, Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen: Program, 2019 p. 59
- Component Pages
for this work
47 Storeys live performance
- Work type:
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Video Works
