Letters & Dishes

Elam’s “Letters and Dishes” consists of two main sections. The initial sequence opens on white letters strewn about other clutter. The camera, mirroring the mess, flops about sketching the room slightly out of focus. In survey, Elam lays out three players: a figure donning full US Postal uniform (possibly Joe), a frizzed-hair woman putting herself together, and a dog, tail thumping, intently afoot at a kitchen table. The latter sequence settles to a fixed vantage, documenting a pair of hands washing dishes, similar to the hands at work in Elam’s “Joe & Greens.”