Nina Rhode: Friendly Fire / Cara Tolmie: Read Thou Art And Read Thou Shalt Remain @ DCA until 31 July

Dynamic, multi disciplinary installations unite the work of Glasgow born Cara Tolmie and Berlin based Nina Rhode in this intriguing pair of solo exhibitions at Dundee Contemporary Arts this summer.

For Tolmie, it is Chronicle, a 21-minute installation video, which forms the main work and it commands attention: enhanced by a chilling choral soundtrack, a mountainous mural  – alluding to a previous installation, naturally – is positioned within a sparse, wooden room. The backdrop is set for a mesmerising dramatisation and Tolmie clearly understands the mechanics of film. Slow, creeping upward titles lend it a near-Kubrickian flair; the cinematic exploration of character introspection in part two of the ‘opera’ is a particular strength in the work.

Tolmie uses a religious quote as the exhibition title. Perhaps this may prove too clever for its own good for some but it offers a point of curiosity nonetheless. Her true interest appears to lie in translation; layers of landscape loop over and over as a video, as a word description, then as a simple diagram placed on the wall, repetitive and hypnotic in their own strange sense.

Down the corridor and it is a different approach entirely. The ‘friendly’ present in Nina Rhode’s exhibit title could not be more fitting in its introductory piece. A bright, multicoloured spinning wheel strikes a playful tone but with a similar hypnotic quality.

Rhode offers a factory of multi-sensory, recycled delights: alongside her celebrated wheels equipped with their own spectacular array of effects, objects are distorted, burn out fireworks form a voodoo like structure, a wooden log hangs between two metal cogs inviting the spectator to ring out a glorious chime.

This is a pairing that is sure to captivate visitors until the end of their run at the end of the month.