Was

” Was exemplifies Hoolboom’s sponge-like retention of avant-garde film traditions. Brimming over with allusions, the film assembles within a quasi-musical structure (prelude, four movements and epilogue) a complex mass of footage, archival material, photographs, and texts, usually in superimposition with images of two ghostly mouths. The soundtrack is polyphonic (owing much to Bruce Elder), as two voices mixed with music and sound effects simultaneously read different texts. A central theme, announced in the prelude, concerns sexuality and the mother.” – Mike Zryd, Recent Work from the Canadian Avant-Garde, Art Gallery of Ontario.