For the video installation Edge of a Wood (1999), Graham had a helicopter equipped with powerful searchlights circle the edge of a forest in Richmond, British Columbia. Two video cameras mounted side by side recorded the nocturnal flight in real time. The large-scale double projection, with spotlight-illuminated trees accompanied only by the sound of the helicopter’s engine, is both captivating and threatening. It evokes a sense of control and surveillance, while reminding us of the nighttime forest as a literary motif, symbolizing mystery, danger, and the unknown.
The motif of nocturnal nature illuminated and depicted using technical devices appears in several of Rodney Graham’s works. Through vivid metaphors of light and illumination, the artist explores the tension between nature and technology.
