24 Hour Psycho is the title of an art installation created by artist Douglas Gordon in 1993. The work consists entirely of an appropriation of Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 Psycho slowed down to approximately two frames a second, rather than the usual 24. As a result it lasts for exactly 24 hours, rather than the original 109 minutes. The film was an important work in Gordon's early career, and is said to introduce themes common to his work, such as "recognition and repetition, time and memory, complicity and duplicity, authorship and authenticity, darkness and light."
Direction
Gordon's radical reframing makes Hitchcock his puppet.
Editing
Two frames per second transforms suspense into hypnosis.
Director
Douglas Gordon
Anthony Perkins
Norman Bates (archive footage)
Vera Miles
Lila Crane (archive footage)
John Gavin
Sam Loomis (archive footage)
Martin Balsam
Milton Arbogast (archive footage)
John McIntire
Al Chambers (archive footage)
Janet Leigh
Marion Crane (archive footage)
Simon Oakland
Dr. Richmond (archive footage)
Frank Albertson
Tom Cassidy (archive footage)
Patricia Hitchcock
Caroline (archive footage)
Vaughn Taylor
George Lowery (archive footage)
Lurene Tuttle
Mrs. Chambers (archive footage)
John Anderson
California Charlie (archive footage)
Mort Mills
Highway Patrol Officer (archive footage)
Virginia Gregg
Norma Bates (voice) (archive sound) (uncredited)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Premiered at Glasgow's Tramway in 1993, instantly becoming the 'I survived this' badge of 90s conceptual art.
Gordon chose Psycho specifically because audiences already knew its secrets—knowledge becomes punishment when stretched across an entire day.
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