Not a magnificent Seven

Melik Ohanian's video installation consists of seven large screens and runs the length of the South London Gallery. Filmed in a rural stretch of southern France, across 2km of valley floor, it starts with a voiceover telling a local story in which farm horses meet with a grisly end.

They die, rather in the manner of Hardy's sheep from Far From The Madding Crowd, when they collectively somersault over a cliff. We follow the story with fragmented footage of caves at night, indicating that perhaps it is the
supernatural pull of the land itself that has driven them to their deaths.

From this opening sequence there is a series of tableaux: candles are lit; a stringed instrument is plucked; a wolf prowls in a cage; a figure
incants inaudibly; and a man solemnly smokes a cigarette. The final sequence sees a lorry crashing into a motorbike, which then careers
into a caravan. This series of random events suggests the malignant forces of the universe have led to the final catastrophe.

Rather than a present a linear narrative, this is an exploration of the texture of the landscape through space rather than time. But its dreamlike symbolism is banal, and whatever it's trying to say, it manages to be both
incoherent and heavy-handed.

Until Dec 22, South London Gallery, 65 Peckham Road SE5, Tue to Sun, noon to 6pm, free.
Tel: 020 7703 6120.
Rail: Peckham Rye

Melik Ohanian: 7 Minutes Before
South London Gallery
Peckham Road, SE5 8UH