Nola Farman was born in Western Australia and studied Music at the University of Western Australia. In 1988, she received an Associateship of the Ontario College of Art (Honours) in Toronto, Canada. She is currently studying for M.A. in Visual Arts at the University of Western Sydney, Nepean. Her work is represented in several major collections including the Art Gallery of Western Australia.

The 'Lift' has a dedicated computer which controls the complex mechanical and visual sequences that are central to the piece. The program is written in machine code and ensures in real-time the perfect synchronisation of the images from the three projectors, the sound accompaniment, the opening and closing of the lift doors, as well as the progression of the electronic counter indicating the current floor level.

The journey in a lift usually connotes a temporary 'absence' from the world, a period of intermission, and it is within this brief span of time that the artists have inserted a sequence of images which evoke certain basic fears and tensions in a highly orchestrated manner. Thus the vague doubts and uncertainties which fleetingly assail most of us are brought into focus and made explicit. The 'Lift' marks a point of rupture with reality. It is a place of embarkation, but the journey involves not only a physical displacement of ascent and descent, but also a psychological displacement.

The riders in the lift become performers for each other. Each group of riders must discover for themselves the 'Lift's' capabilities and their possible engagement with it. The soundtrack is a source of tension in it's own right, as well as an enrichment of the sense of 'pressure' conveyed by the images. The sounds were collected from inside actual lifts and a lift shaft.

Technical Background

HW: 8085 Central Processing Unit
SW: Written in 8085 Assembler Language and "Hardwired" into ROM