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Tris Vonna-Michell’s exhibition No more racing in circles — just pacing within lines of a rectangle is on at the Focal Point Gallery until 20 March.

This exhibition is a result of Tris Vonna-Michell’s three-month’s residency in Southend. Through his visual and audio travelogues, he makes connections between Essex (he was born in Rochford and grew up on the Westcliff-Leigh border) and other places like Berlin, Japan and Detroit. According to the director of Focal Point Gallery, Andrew Hunt, the key element here is the way Tris’ personal histories relate to world’s history.

The two parallel slide projections of images from his travels are intertwined with the sound narrative coming from the speakers on the wall which Tris has reclaimed from the library’s public announcement system. He’s also exposed the ceiling of the gallery, placing a rectangular light there, de-institutionalizing the space, already instantly intimate by its imposed darkness, in contrast to the well-lit library interior.

The large marble clock on the floor is ticking away… It is working, but there are no hour marks. It will only show the ‘right’ time for you (for your location) if you stand at the right spot on the edge of its face. If you walk around, you are virtually traveling in time, through the time zones, around the globe. Entering No more racing in circles.. is like coming to a new space, a strange dimension without time and without borders.

On 15 March 7-9.30pm Tris Vonna-Michell will do a performance at Clifftown Studios, Nelson Street, Southend-on-Sea, SS1 1EF. Entry is free but booking is essential (T: 01702 534108)

Focal Point Gallery / Southend Central Library, Victoria Avenue, Southend-on-Sea, SS2 6EX, WEBSITE