In this short film, Julia Oldham collaborates with physicists Maxime Clusel and Eric Corwin to explore “frustration”, a term in physics describing groups of particles in which neighboring pairs like to be in opposite states, making groups of three very precarious. They found that the concept of frustration played itself out perfectly in their attempts to plan a new video project together: like three particles, they could never achieve a state of order and satisfaction. They argued, fought, tested their friendships, and finally they lay the project to rest. Over the course of all of the drama, Oldham kept a journal of their conversations and interactions. The video piece, Frustration, explores the relationship among the three collaborators through narrated journal entries that generate a diagrammatic drawing on Oldham’s studio window. In this work, science becomes a tool for channeling the complications of friendship and collaboration. This video was commissioned by The Drawing Center in New York and received press in the Village Voice.

In Memory of Maxime Clusel (1977-2015)