The Tiny Ventriloquist

In the first shot of Reinkes new feature length video we see the desert landscape of the American Southwest from a car window Though shaky and handheld it is an immediately recognizable and iconic image the great vistas of Hollywood westerns of American westward expansion of monumental modernist land art from the late 20th century On the soundtrack Reinkes unmistakable voice apologizes for beginning the film with a shot of a landscape from a moving car but what is he to do The camera is already rolling This moment encapsulates much of what transpires in the scenes that follow presenting us with an image dismissing that image and wryly suggesting he is doing nothing here that the footage is just unreeling Reinkes collection and organization of images and sounds seem casual at first but ultimately reveal themselves to be heavily mediated and orchestrated