Factum addendum: Candice Breitz at the Power Plant

In today's paper, I made up for some lost time by writing about Candice Breitz's Power Plant show, Same Same (as many of you know, I've been in China since long before the opening last month).

I enjoyed the bulk of it for the frothy, celebrity-obsession chiding that it was; but in the case of the Factum series, which was commissioned by the Power Plant, I discovered a new layer of depth to Breitz's oeuvre. These frank, unvarnished portraits of identical twins, individually recounting their personal narratives for the camera in relation to the other, were riveting; Breitz expertly edited the interviews, which were seven hours each, down into brisk, affecting back-and-forths that seemed to have the twins speaking with one another.

In the case of one set of twins, the Misericordias, one of the two elderly sisters seemed to me to be hinting at a serious illness when, off-handedly, she said she was "wishing herself well;" this morning, Breitz assured me that this was not in fact the case; both women are in excellent health. So to clear the air, let me assure you this was very much my reading, absorbed in their narrative as I was, and not a piece of actual information to be shared.

As I said to Breitz, this reading -- and countless others among the three pieces currently completed; there are 5 more in process -- makes clear both the difference between documentary and art, and the potency of the latter to be absorbing and transformative. Part of Factum's power is its necessary obliqueness -- a compelling but incomplete picture of lives lived virtually in tandem, but fractured at critical points. It includes just enough to be completely absorbing, but little enough to leave one agonizing to complete the picture -- and desperate to know more.

As Breitz is the architect of the virtual conversation, I'll have to ask her why she included that comment. It was suggestive, to be sure; but as an artist, that's her job -- to lead, to suggest, but never to tell. You leave the best work feeling a part of it; Factum is certainly one of those.