16mm/HD, color, sound, 46 minutes, film for performance by Jacqueline Goss and Jenny Perlin, 2015

Jacqueline Goss and Jenny Perlin retrace the journey of two 18th-century astronomers tasked with determining the true length of the meter. From the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel, The Measures explores the metric system’s origins during the violence and upheavals of the French Revolution. Along the way, Goss and Perlin consider the intertwining of political and personal turmoil, the failures of standardization, and the subtleties of collaboration.

The Measures is most often performed with live voice-over by the two directors of the film but is being presented here with voice-over as part of the video.