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Circle, 1968–69

Close-up image of a colour film strip. Three stacked frames show a white house with a brownish red roof, obscured with a fence and tall trees.

Jack Chambers, Circle, 1968–69, 16mm black and white and colour film, sound, 28 min., Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto.

A profoundly meditative film, Circle explores many of Chambers’s central themes: the life cycle, the effect. To make it, he knocked a hole through the back wall of his home on Lombard Avenue in London and mounted a movie camera inside it. Each day for a year, he would turn it on for a few seconds, recording “blindly” whatever the lens saw. The result is a 24-minute chronicle of Chambers’s backyard and of time’s progress, bookended by a section showing the artist filming himself inside his house and found newsreel clips of London. The “circle” is complete and perfect in its form.


WATCH FILM

Gallery

Painting by Jack Chambers depicting a table filled with white dishes, fruit, and an overwhelming amount of yellow flowers. The table gradually transitions into white hills sparsely populated with blue triangular trees. Above the trees float six heads and glowing orbs.

McGilvary County, 1962

Painting by Jack Chambers of two women sitting and talking on a long sofa covered in green and pink striped blanket. It is painted in a flat style with a minimal colour palette of browns, yellows, greens, and pinks, and a single navy chair to the right of the sofa.

Olga and Mary Visiting, 1964–65

Black and white illustrated print by Jack Chambers divided into three parts. In the top left, bold numbers on a white background read "1 + 1 = 9" and "1 + 1 + 9 =." Below that, a row of grey Xs appear on a lighter grey background. On the right, a two-tone negative portrait of a man is shown, one hand clutching his chest and a worried expression on his face.

Plus Nine, 1966

Artwork by Jack Chambers consisting of several parts. A realistic black and white illustration of a family with two adults and three small children is in the middle. A strip of photos of a boy is placed to the right, reproduced realistically in the middle and then as a silhouette in adjacent frames. Above and below the photos are scenes of a regatta, with triangular black and white sailboats drawn on a pink background. A blue plastic frame surrounds the artwork overall.

Regatta No. 1, 1968

Painting by Jack Chambers of highway lanes surrounded by buildings and green fields under a large blue sky filled with fluffy clouds. The perspective is slightly from above and the horizon line is tilted.

401 Towards London No. 1, 1968–69

Close-up image of a colour film strip. Three stacked frames show a white house with a brownish red roof, obscured with a fence and tall trees.

Circle, 1968–69

Close-up image of a colour film strip. Three stacked frames show a boy in a blue sweater holding cupped hands up to the mouth of a deer with large antlers.

The Hart of London, 1968–70

Realistic painting by Jack Chambers of a scene in a living room in the early morning. Two small boys wearing robes and footed pajamas sit on chairs watching a small TV set in the corner. A large window shows a neighbourhood in winter with a clear blue sky.

Sunday Morning No. 2, 1968–70

Painting by Jack Chambers depicting a family with two adults and two small boys sitting at a dining room table having lunch. Behind the table is a large window showing a winter day with a clear blue sky. The painting is unfinished; the shading of the family and table is mostly rendered, while the floor is flatly coloured and the picture frames on the wall are blank.

Lunch, 1969 (unfinished)

Realistic painting by Jack Chambers of a winter scene under an overcast sky. A hospital is small in the centre of the frame with other smaller buildings and trees visible along the horizon line.

Victoria Hospital, 1969–70

Painting by Jack Chambers depicting a table filled with white dishes, fruit, and an overwhelming amount of yellow flowers. The table gradually transitions into white hills sparsely populated with blue triangular trees. Above the trees float six heads and glowing orbs.

McGilvary County, 1962

Painting by Jack Chambers of two women sitting and talking on a long sofa covered in green and pink striped blanket. It is painted in a flat style with a minimal colour palette of browns, yellows, greens, and pinks, and a single navy chair to the right of the sofa.

Olga and Mary Visiting, 1964–65

Black and white illustrated print by Jack Chambers divided into three parts. In the top left, bold numbers on a white background read "1 + 1 = 9" and "1 + 1 + 9 =." Below that, a row of grey Xs appear on a lighter grey background. On the right, a two-tone negative portrait of a man is shown, one hand clutching his chest and a worried expression on his face.

Plus Nine, 1966

Artwork by Jack Chambers consisting of several parts. A realistic black and white illustration of a family with two adults and three small children is in the middle. A strip of photos of a boy is placed to the right, reproduced realistically in the middle and then as a silhouette in adjacent frames. Above and below the photos are scenes of a regatta, with triangular black and white sailboats drawn on a pink background. A blue plastic frame surrounds the artwork overall.

Regatta No. 1, 1968

Painting by Jack Chambers of highway lanes surrounded by buildings and green fields under a large blue sky filled with fluffy clouds. The perspective is slightly from above and the horizon line is tilted.

401 Towards London No. 1, 1968–69

Close-up image of a colour film strip. Three stacked frames show a white house with a brownish red roof, obscured with a fence and tall trees.

Circle, 1968–69

Close-up image of a colour film strip. Three stacked frames show a boy in a blue sweater holding cupped hands up to the mouth of a deer with large antlers.

The Hart of London, 1968–70

Realistic painting by Jack Chambers of a scene in a living room in the early morning. Two small boys wearing robes and footed pajamas sit on chairs watching a small TV set in the corner. A large window shows a neighbourhood in winter with a clear blue sky.

Sunday Morning No. 2, 1968–70

Painting by Jack Chambers depicting a family with two adults and two small boys sitting at a dining room table having lunch. Behind the table is a large window showing a winter day with a clear blue sky. The painting is unfinished; the shading of the family and table is mostly rendered, while the floor is flatly coloured and the picture frames on the wall are blank.

Lunch, 1969 (unfinished)

Realistic painting by Jack Chambers of a winter scene under an overcast sky. A hospital is small in the centre of the frame with other smaller buildings and trees visible along the horizon line.

Victoria Hospital, 1969–70

Circle - Art Canada