Blood Brother

Kenneth Fletcher / Paul Wong (1976-2024)
7:45, colour video with sound w/ credit
Edition 5

60 Unit; Bruise
Kenneth Fletcher/Paul Wong 1976
5.25 min., stereo, colour, single-channel w/ credit

Fletcher, using a syringe takes out 60 units of blood from his veins and injects it randomly into Wong’s back. Recorded in real time, timelapse is created by turning the video recorder on and off. At that time artist had no means of editing colour video. The timelapse reveals Wong’s body interacting/rejecting Fletcher’s different blood type resulting in the development of a bruise.

50/50
Kenneth Fletcher/Paul Wong, 1976
2:31, colour video with sound w/ credit

Fletcher using a syringe extracts 50 units of blood from Wong’s arm and injects himself with that blood. Fletcher continues to then extract 50 units of blood from his arms and injects that back into Wong’s veins.

These two video art works were created during an artist’s residency at the Western Front in Vancouver. The Western Front had borrowed a Sony colour video Portapak from the Canada Council. They invited Wong and Fletcher to use colour video for their first times. These short works are two of a dozen video experiments created during that period. It included both individual and collaborative pieces by Kenneth and Paul along with other members of the Mainstreeters group.

The only work that went into active circulation was 60 Unit; Bruise. It was and continues to be widely screened at festivals, exhibited internationally, collected and studied.

In 2022 the Western Front found and digitized a 30min 1/2″ open reel videotape. It contained the original master recordings of 60 Unit; Bruise and 50/50 along with a half dozen other experiments. Paul was excited that this long lost and forgotten work 50/50 was found alongside Camp Potlatch, Hold Your Breath, Escape, Sync, K of P. 

We have used the recently digitized and restored 60 Unit; Bruise and 50/50 as a new release in 2024. The for-the-camera performances are shown in the order they were recorded. The intent of these body art experiments was to make works that would only make sense to be viewed in colour.

Bio

Fletcher and Wong worked individually and collaboratively together and created visual, performance and video artworks. They met in highschool in Vancouver. Kenneth Fletcher (Oct 7, 1954 – June 15, 1978)