Art review: Juliette Blightman at Michael Benevento Gallery

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Juliette Blightman’s sound installation at Michael Benevento Gallery is the soundtrack from her 30-minute film, ‘an hour,’ which screened last month at the New Beverly Cinema and will be shown again on Feb. 19. Whatever the merits of the movie may be (and I have not seen it), the soundtrack does not stand on its own. Nor does it make you want to see the movie.

Played faintly over speakers in an empty, dimly lighted room, the half-hour recording consists of the sounds you hear wherever people wait: at airports and train stations, clinics and courthouses, the dentist’s office and the DMV. People talk, babies cry, motors drone and the hum of everyday life hums along. But nothing builds into a coherent narrative, sensible rhythm, satisfying pattern or insightful resolution.

If you get tired of standing around listening to ambient noise, you can sit in one of two chairs the young British artist has placed in the foyer, along with a table, on top of which rests a potted plant and a fresh banana. The front window has a good view of Sunset Boulevard. The people-watching is way above average.

The point of Blightman’s jejune piece is that it usually pays to pay attention to details, and that the attentiveness we bring to things is sometimes more important than the things themselves. That’s a pretty sensible way to approach life. But as a goal for one’s art, it leaves a lot to be desired.

– David Pagel

Michael Benevento Gallery, 7578 Sunset Blvd., (323) 874-6400, through Feb. 20. Closed Sundays and Mondays. www.beneventolosangeles.com