Rodney Graham’s short film City Self / Country Self (2000) shows an elegantly dressed dandy kicking a man from the provinces in the backside during a walk through the city, causing him to lose his hat. Graham used an illustrated 19th-century children’s book as the template for this derogatory scene. From a formal-aesthetic perspective, the illustration recalls single-leaf prints, hand-colored until the second half of the 19th century, which were popular as images and reading material for the entertainment and instruction of children.
The illustration also inspired Graham to make a short film in the style of a slapstick comedy, in which he plays both roles himself. Although the story is told with many anecdotal details, it remains unclear why the attack occurs. As he often does, the artist conceived the short film as a loop. Trapped in endless repetition, the scene replays just as the children’s book illustration repeats in the wallpaper pattern.
