'Crossroads' 2009
'Crossroads' was an Arts Council England National Touring Commission for Spike Island, Bristol
HD Video, 12 mins
'Crossroads' began as an investigation into the mythology surrounding the legendary Robert Johnson, a bluesman with three gravestones, 29 recorded songs and only two known photographs, who reputedly sold his soul to the devil at the crossroads.
Filmed in the heat of the Mississippi Delta, 'Crossroads' was in part a portrait of a landscape still deeply, though not officially, segregated. The film followed a man with a guitar, the Blues Legend, on his journey to the crossroads to recover his lost soul.
A replica plantation shack was constructed as a means to project the film, with the sound reverberating from within. It was not possible to see inside the shack, the curtains were closed with a light shining behind them. Viewers could sit on the back porch, on a rocking chair, to watch the film.
David Trigg: Review: Art Monthly 327: June 2009
Jessica Lack: Exhibition Preview: The Guardian Sat 31 January 2009
JJ Charlesworth: Review: Time Out London: Aug 6 2009
David Blandy, 'Crossroads', 2009, Installation view at Spike Island, Bristol, Photo: Stuart Bunce
Film Stills: 'Crossroads', shot on location in Mississippi, USA, 2008, Image credit: Claire Barrett
Install photo: At the exhibition, 'Thank You for the Music', Kiasma, Helsinki, Finland; made with technical assistance from Mirek Träskman
The original shack from the touring exhibition has been installed permanently at Wysing Arts Centre in Cambridge.