Artist’s statement -
Racetrack is a continuous painting that can wind around spaces and curve on the corners. It has been referred to as a ‘driving meditation on life’, because it contains words in Morse code that describe ways of living or conduct. To me they summarize the philosophical thoughts of a sole driver through life or on a journey through the landscape.
The work gives viewers an immediate sense of movement that begins with cars and moves to the images of landscape that are framed as flashes of light in a filmic sequence. The morse code runs through the entire work and provides a structure that links each panel to the next one.
Various visual devices convey ideas that relate to the driving theme; the black stripes appear rubbery and look a bit like tyre tread; the morse code white on black at the beginning lead you in and look a bit like road markings.
The basic idea is a filmic painting that unwinds as viewers move past the work.
Ephemera
→ Gary Freemantle: Racetrack, 2002, exhibition card