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Javier Téllez: Letter on the Blind, For the Use of Those Who See

Presented by Arthouse at the Jones Center at Arthouse at the Jones Center

April 9-July 31, 2011

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Venezuelan-born, New York-based Javier Téllez, is a video, film, and installation artist whose work weaves fiction and documentary in an elegant investigation of what it means to be normal. In the tradition of artist-activists, Téllez maneuvers around socio-cultural barriers by employing his work as a voice for marginalized populations. Concerned with criticisms of contemporary society, institutional power, and the art market and politics, Téllez’s investigations make visible traditionally marginalized populations (such as the disabled and mentally ill) and structures of control.

Téllez’s film Letter on the Blind, For the Use of Those Who See, which premiered at the 2008 Whitney Biennial, is based on the ancient Indian parable, “The Blind Men and the Elephant.” The original tale encourages finding harmony with those who have different beliefs. Téllez’s version features six blind New Yorkers in an exploration of visibility and the perception of reality. The black and white film recalls documentary filmmaking which lends an air of authenticity to the work. However, it also robs the viewer of an inextricable part of seeing: color. This is a formal reminder of the participants’ lack of sight and focuses attention on the narration. Shot inside the empty community pool in McCarren Park, Brooklyn, the six participants encounter the elephant one by one and describe the experience of touching, hearing, and smelling it. Their descriptions are echoed by an off-screen monologue recounting their interactions with the elephant in the past tense. A third level of narration provides intimate revelations into the participants’ own blindness, proving that not only does each participant experience the elephant differently, but also blindness itself. During the discussions of blindness, the camera focuses not on the person speaking but on a close-up image of the elephant’s hide, cropped so tightly that it looks like an abstract image. Thus, Téllez employs formal filmmaking structures to explore the complexity and contradiction involved in portraying non-visual perception though the distinctly visual medium of film.

Sound plays a critical role in Letter on the Blind; a minimalist soundtrack subtly directs the action on screen and voice takes on a concrete role as the material of collaboration amongst the blind participants. This is particularly evident in the final credits when each participant states their name when it appears on screen. This subtle gesture is a poignant conclusion to the film, reminding the viewer that although the participants may not get to see their name in lights, they will get to hear them.