Jordan Wolfson profoundly understands Flaubert's lament that "Language is but a tin drum we beat out for a dancing bear, when we hope our music will move the stars." In Wolfson's video, "Untitled False Document," poetic musings are pronounced with the tiniest voice possible: the emotionless automated voice from a computer. While the mechanical drone philosophizes, we watch a video within a video of a lithe, glowingly healthy girl tossing poster-size photos of fruit off a yacht's bow. And when the camera pulls back, we see that the video is playing on a flat screen in a sunny living-room next to a cute cat that stretches and grooms. Though "Untitled False Document" is a contemplative and touching mediation on identity, expression and nostalgia, Wolfson's first New York solo show at the Swiss Institute confirms that this Whitney Biennial veteran still has much to ponder and teach.
Untitled False Document is on until October 25.