John Brattin, The Triumph of Night 
Jan 13–Feb 12, 2006 
 
PARTICIPANT INC presents The Triumph of Night, a new Super 8 film by John Brattin. Shot entirely on location at PARTICIPANT INC, The Triumph of Night will be screened continuously within an installation comprised of the theatrical remains of Brattin’s sets, designed according to his drawings and storyboards, also on view. Brattin’s project involves the conceptualization of settings, constructed as the locus of a semi- narrative experimental film, approximately thirty minutes in length. The Triumph of Night, whose title is derived from an Edith Wharton short story of the same name, involves a highly structured approach to script, an ensemble of actors, and the collaboration of set-builders, scenic painters, lighting and camera personnel. Without prioritizing one element of activity over the next, Brattin elaborates a self- perpetuating region through a variety of mediums, eliciting fears rooted in childhood stories of make- believe castles, forests, and shadowy interiors. These settings present a certain departure from the ordinary world to a place existing mostly in darkness. As artist Tony Oursler stated: “John Brattin is a creator of haunting mental locations. He moves with fluidity from video to installation to painting with astonishing exactitude... A Walt Disney gone bad.” (Station to Station, Artists' Space, 1997)