Standby For Tape Backup ****

Bush Theatre, RADAR festival 2014

EXCERPT: "He exposes the way in which words imbue images with meanings, and the way both impact - and are impacted by - the memories you have. This changing and interrelated material forms who we are, even as we form the material based on the patterns we want to see in it."

Summary

‘Two years ago, I found a videotape in my loft. On it: one and a half films, one quiz show and two sitcoms. Somehow it became the story of my life.’ Ross Sutherland attempts a daring experiment in synchronicity. Using nothing but found-footage from one of his granddad’s old videotapes, Ross attempts to draw out his entire life story. A true story of one man’s journey into synchronicity and madness.

Thoughts

Ross Sutherland's Standby For Tape Backup was brilliant - in so many ways. The man has a real way with words, a gift with timing, and - most crucially - an ability to tap into a huge variety of ideas at once. I could watch his show any number of times and find different layers to unwrap. He exposes the way in which words imbue images with meanings, and the way both impact - and are impacted by - the memories you have. This changing and interrelated material forms who we are, even as we form the material based on the patterns we want to see in it.

Nostalgia - for Michael Jackson, Will Smith, video tapes, old school adverts, etc - feeds into our appreciation of the piece, as does his evident love for his grandfather. The visual way with which he exposes various feelings - his depression, in particular - make us believe his argument that he meaning of an entire life can be bound up in a few images and connected sequences.

I liked the conclusion of his piece, which focuses around Jaws - a film that was so successful precisely because of the absence of the shark. His takeaway is that to truly believe we must stop looking too hard at what we believe in. This beautifully contradicts everything that comes before. For Standby For Tape Backup is a piece of work that is fundamentally all about finding patterns and meaning in a jumbled up old mess of a video tape, yet he ultimately suggests that what he has learnt from the whole experience of excessive analysis is that we should stop seeking to find those patterns.