The first thing you read is "halftime, of what?" This is really the best place to start. What is halftime now? What is halftime in the context of America in the 21st century, what is does halftime mean in sports and what does it mean in the vein of the new body of work by Matt Bollinger? Halftime is supposed to be a break, a chance to regroup, rethink, rework whatever came before for whatever comes next. It can change the pace or it doesn't really change anything at all the reflects the result. You could be winning and you continue to win, or you are winning than you lose or you losing and then you win. You see? Halftime is everything and almost nothing. But that is what makes Matt Bollinger's work so profound and what makes his new solo show, halftime, at mother's tankstation in London so compelling. Where are we, actually? As Americans especially, what is this era? Was the pandemic a halftime? Are we still losing? Are the characters in Bollinger's paintings in a state of subtle bliss or overt loneliness?
The thing about naming a show halftime is that is really does just create questions and in the subtext of the American landscape, the sports metaphor is a larger conversation about hopes and dreams, of easily defined wins and losses. Will it be better on the horizon or are we just going to continue to be at this feeling of empty results? Or will be blow it? This show isn't about sports, but the use of the terminology makes us all feel, as viewers, what will happen next? Do we even have control to change the ending? Bollinger, in his dramacitc Ashcan School style, has created the perfect American predicament. —Evan Pricco
