Condition of Illusion Peter Gidal, 1975

Condition of Illusion records in silence the effect of camera movement on an otherwise static environment, appearing to see beyond immediate material reality to a shifting, molecularlevel patterning. The jerkily hand held moving camera comes momentarily to rest on individual features; a ceramic mug; a poster image of a young male face in profile; a record player; a metallic animal statuette, before motion blur transforms apparently solid objects into a rapidly shifting patterning of film grained lines and circles. This is film concerned with the relation between the spectator and the photographic image, challenging the identifying relation which is the basis for classic BFI