Fistimuff (2019), single channel video, stereo sound, 11:07min

Leading its audience into a different paradigm, Fistimuff disturbs the familiarity of the
human body, suburban streets and domestic interiors with an inverted colour palette. These sites are transformed with a new agency, textures become almost palpable and the surface of the image blushes.

The energetic interdependence between poetry, gesture and rhythm suggest a totalised system of bodily logic, whilst the divide between performance and rest is as fine and bruised as a hairline fracture. Uncut scenes of absentminded idling, direct audience address and private moments of play erode a stable reading of the performance.

A meandering pace and lack of narrative is paired with commanding pitch-altered spoken word and a soundscape featuring unpredictable choppy beats and floating synth melodies. Radio static, an electrified hum and glitching repetition create a charged atmosphere. The voice of the artist repeats, urging, “Time goes by and nothing stays the same, feelings come and feelings pass away”.

Lead Artist and Composer: Archie Barry
Sound Design and Production: Sean Lowry
Videographer: Emmett Aldred


Exhibition History:
Heide Museum of Modern Art, 'Fistimuff' (solo exhibition), Nov, 2020 - Feb, 2021.
BLINDSIDE Gallery, 'Fistimuff' (solo exhibition), Sept 2019.

Fistimuff is a Channels Festival commission co-curated by Kelli Alred and Laura Couttie. Supported by BLINDSIDE through the City of Melbourne and Creative Victoria.