This exhibition presents the wide range of moving images in today’s contemporary art world, encompassing everything from a cinematic dream in eight minutes to an hour-long classic documentary. The common denominator of the works is the artists’ conviction of culture’s unique voice in society. In their films the artists make use of existing works – taken from music, film and visual art – in order to focus on contemporary and historical events of both a political and existential nature. Each film will be featured for a period of two weeks, and all films have been produced by internationally active artists whose works have not previously been exhibited in Sweden.
27 January – 7 February Guido van der Werve, Nummer zes: Steinway grand piano, wake me up to go to sleep and all the colours of the rainbow (17 min)
In Nummer zes: Steinway grand piano, wake me up to go to sleep and all the colours of the rainbow, Guido van der Werve recounts the history of the coveted Steinway grand piano, which was first constructed in 1853. The film is a homage to classic musical, whilst also providing a historical overview of the success of a commercial business. Van der Werve’s own musical background as a pianist is illustrated when he performs Chopin’s Piano Concerto in E Minor in his own apartment, along with the conductor and orchestra. Guido van der Werve’s films take their point of departure in a historic and romantic melancholy which encompasses the presence of bygone composers. Since 2003, the artist has numbered his films in the same manner as classical composers number their musical compositions.
10–21 February Artur Zmijewski Sculpture Plein-air, Swiecie (25 min)
For his film Sculpture Plein-air, Swiecie, Artur Zmijewski invited artists and steel workers to collaborate. The seven artists are active in different parts of Poland, whilst the steel workers come from the small town of Swiecie, far removed from the contemporary art scene. Zmijewski asked them to create public artworks together, utilising materials, tools and workshops provided by the company which sponsored the project. The idea was based on similar collaborations that took place in the Polish city of Elblag in the 1960s, when artists and workers were united in a shared belief of a classless society, an alliance of artistic creation and industrial work. Artur Zmijewski stages social experiments in which he invites people – often marginalised and vulnerable – of different nationalities, religions and ideologies to express themselves together.
24 February – 7 March Ursula Mayer Le Déjeuner en Fourrure /The Lunch in Fur (8 min)
Le Déjeuner en Fourrure /The Lunch in Fur is staged in a modern glass house in which three early 20th-century female icons meet: the photographer Dora Maar, the artist Meret Oppenheim and the singer Josephine Baker. These women recall different events in their lives and their memories are transformed through mystical film shots. The dream world and reality intertwine as the women move throughout the house, touching different objects from their Surrealistic world. The title of the film is taken from Meret Oppenheim’s fur-lined teacup, an icon of the Surrealist movement.
10 – 21 March Manon de Boer, Attica (10 min)
In Attica, Manon de Boer conveys the story of the infamous 1971 hostage drama at the Attica prison in New York through two musical pieces by composer Frederic Rzewski. Rzewski’s lyrics are based on statements by two of the inmates who took part in the riot. According to one of the inmates, the event at Attica is still not finished; it will always remain before him. This hostage drama attracted much attention, and de Boer is interested in the politically explosive nature expressed in Rzewski’s taut music. De Boer assigned a quartet to perform the music in front of the camera. She started filming the musicians and followed this with a 360-degree pan around the room. The camera films through a mirror, which creates a spatial dislocation where time and space are dissolved. In Manon de Boer’s films we encounter musicians, dancers, intellectuals and artists performing various works. With a sensitive ear, de Boer transfers these works to the cinematic medium, creating films with a strong focus on rhythm, pace, repetition and interruption. In her own way, de Boer materialises time through various cultural formats.
24 March – 4 April Teresa Hubbard & Alexander Birchler, Grand Paris Texas (54 min)
Grand Paris Texas paints a portrait of the German film director Wim Wenders’ cult movie Paris, Texas from 1984. Wenders’ movie is about a man who returns to his wife and son after vanishing without a trace four years earlier. He claims to have bought some land in the town of Paris, Texas, and dreams about building a house there. Grand Paris Texas carries on from Wender’s movie to tell the story of the remote town of Paris, its inhabitants and the abandoned movie theatre The Grand. With Paris, Texas, as the unifying theme, the artists highlight everything that surrounds the movie, such as the screening situation in movie theatres, cinematic technology and personal memories and recollections. Artists Teresa Hubbard and Alexander Birchler work with photography and film – both as their medium and as a recurrent theme. In their works, which move between re-enactment and documentation, there are frequent references to well-known feature films and directors.
Wednesday Evenings: Artist Talks
As all the films in Projections are being screened for the first time in Sweden, Bonniers Konsthall has invited the participating artists to Wednesday Evening talks. Over the course of five Wednesday evenings, the filmmakers will discuss their works with the Bonniers Konsthall’s curators.
27 January: Guido van der Werve
11 February: Curator Aneta Szylak on Artur Zmijewski´s artwork
3 March: Ursula Mayer
10 March: Manon de Boer
24 March: Teresa Hubbard & Alexander Birchler
With kind support of Austrian Embassy, Swiss Arts Council, Swiss Embassy, US Embassy, Dutch Embassy
