“Single Wide” now playing at the St. Louis Art Museum, Gallery 301

Single Wide, a video installation at the St. Louis Art Museum, tells the story of a lone character.  The camera makes three sweeping, circular rotations around the set where the story takes place.  The variations in the camera’s path train the viewer’s focus on different details in the scene; these clues help piece together the narrative.

Single Wide, refers to the isolated trailer home where the story takes place.  Although the story is cleverly told, and sound is used especially effectively, the film fails because the European film-makers just don’t get the identity of the character.  The setting and the character lack a lived in feel that make the film feel distant at best and maybe even condescending.

Single Wide is in the marvelously isolated gallery 301 at the St. Louis Art Museum.  The view from the hallway between gallery 301 and 321 is the best perch in the whole museum for people watching.