Stan Douglas’ (b. 1960) video installation Doppelgänger is rife with motifs of mirrors, binaries, parallels and doubles, diving into concepts of truth and where the “other” sits in society today. Both the structure and the subject matter of the exhibition offer an overarching sense of displacement or the uncanny.
The idea of coupling is extremely significant. Playfully, the exhibition is running simultaneously at Victoria Miro, London, and David Zwirner, New York, having first premiered at Venice Biennale in 2019 (to which Douglas is set to return to in 2021 to represent Canada.) As in previous works, multi-channel video is integral for the artist’s ability to overlap or replicate. The layered installation in Doppelgänger takes shape as two square-format screens, front and back, in a pitch-black room, echoing the vastness of space portrayed in the video. The tale begins with endless swirling stars and an incandescent planetary surface.
Image: Installation view, Scenes from the Blackout, Victoria Miro, 31January–14 March 2020
© Stan Douglas
Courtesy the artist, Victoria Miro, and David Zwirner
