For most people, audio descriptions – in which an automated voice describes visual elements of a piece of media – are a mild modern annoyance often activated only by accident, and turned off shortly after. But, for the visually impaired, including the UK visual artist Angela Charles, they are a wonder of modernity, providing a vital window into the world of the sighted. In this endearing portrait of Charles, the voice of her beloved ‘audio describer’ Daniel becomes a character all its own, narrating the proceedings and eventually introducing ‘himself’ to the viewer.
This proves to be a clever device for capturing the evolution of Charles’s art, which, as her degenerative eye condition has worsened, has grown more abstract, increasingly occupying a space where form and colour meet mood and memory. The UK director Liberty Smith’s inspired production choices and Charles’s charm ultimately make What Are You Looking At? a standout of the crowded artist portrait genre, highlighting one woman’s irrepressible creative spirit while pondering larger questions of what it means to see and be seen.
