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Sascha Pohle
Reframing the Artist
Video | hdv | color | 35:0 | Germany, Netherlands | 2010
REFRAMING THE ARTIST deals with the stereotypical representations of visual artists in movies. The role of the artist both in fictional films and in biopics, classics of the twentieth century or recent popular films, is focused on the artist?s idiosyncratic behavior, his love affairs, his self-destruction associated with a mystification of his creative production or on encounters with other protagonists of the art world such as the collector, the art dealer, the model or the art student. Artists are almost solely painters, which reconfirms a predominant inadequate representation of visual artists in movies. In the video REFRAMING THE ARTIST fragments from approximately 50 different movies such as ?The Moderns? ?Surviving Picasso? or Vincent and Theo? are reset in the Dafen Oil Painting Village. Dafen, situated in Shenzhen, China, is the world`s largest producer of mass-produced handmade oil-on-canvas copy paintings supplying a global market. The video takes place in unmodified settings of the painters` own homes, studios, shops or galleries. There we see Dafen painters re-enacting movie scenes, in which they take over the role of a Picasso, a Van Gogh, a Pollock or several fictional artists, art collectors, critics, muses and lovers. In the ?Reframing the Artist? mass reproduction of oil paintings from Dafen and the recurrent use of artist stereotypes in the mass media film converge to a new narrative overlapping fiction and documentary. The Chinese painter is neither represented as a mere copyist nor does he apply to the notion of the ?original? artist according to our predominant definitions. REFRAMING THE ARTIST raises questions about authenticity in the context of global cultural exchange and it challenges the view of the ?exotic? Other, both the visual artist and the Chinese copy painter. The video is structured into five chapters: Artist and Authenticity, Artist and Market, Artist and Crisis, Artist and Student, Artist and Model. Painting props taken from the same original movies re-appear as copies in REFRAMING THE ARTIST.
Education 2002 B.A. Staatliche Hochschule für Bildende Künste (Städelschule), klasse Ayse Erkmen, Frankfurt am Main, DE 2007 Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, NL (Selected) solo exhibitions 2013 Rongwrong, Amsterdam, NL 2012 Art space Apguyeong, open in November en gecureerd door Ji Yoon Yang (De Appel CP 2008/09), Seoul, KR, (aanstaand) (exhibited works: Noire et Blanche + new production) 2012 Lothringer_13_Halle, gecureerd door Felix Ruhöfer, München, DE (exhibited works: Noire et Blanche, Statues Also Die, German Indian, Reframing the Artist, The Mad Masters) 2012 Gallery Weingrüll, Karlsruhe, DE (exhibited works: Noire et Blanche, Reframing the Artist, Statues Also Die) (Selected) group exhibitions 2013 ?Transfer Korea-NRW?, Kunsthalle Düsseldorf and Kunstmuseum Bonn, National Museum of Korea, Arko, (upcoming) - new production: Ornaments of Property 2012 Monitoring/ Kasseler Dokumentarfilm und Videofest, (upcoming), DE - Statues Also Die 2012 ?Generation Loss?, Green Papaya Art Projects, Manila, PHL 2012 ?Signals: For Real?, IFFR, 41st International Film Festival Rotterdam, gecureerd door Edwin Carels, NL - Reframing the Artist 2011 Museum der Moderne Salzburg, ?role models-role playing?, AUT - The Mad Masters 2010 Arti et Amicitae, Amsterdam, ?Villains and Heroes?, Sascha Pohle/Marco Pando, NL - German Indian 2010 Dafen International Contemporary Art Exhibition, ?Convection? Dafen Sub-Venue, Shenzhen Case Pavillion, 2010 Shanghai EXPO, CN - Reframing the Artist 2010 Taipeh International Art Center, Urban Nomad Video Art Section, TW - Reframing the Artist 2010 ?works?, basis, Frankfurt, DE 2008 PARA/SITE art space, ?Terminus?, gecureerd door Christina Li (De Appel CP 2008/09), Hong Kong - The Swimmer 2008 ?Beyond Paradise?, SMBA Stedeljik Museum Bureau Amsterdam, gecureerd door Delphine Bedel and Ayako Yoshimura , NL - The Swimmer 2008 ?Vertrautes Terrain?, ZKM - Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, gecureerd door Gregor Jansen and Thomas Thiel - German Indian 2008 Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt am Main, DE, `All-Inclusiv A Tourist World - The Swimmer (Selected) Filmfestivals 2012 BIEFF, Bukarest, RO, Reframing the Artist 2012 58. Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen, DE, Reframing the Artist 2012 41st International Film Festival Rotterdam, NL, Reframing the Artist 2011 HomeShop, Jue Festival, Beijng, CN, Reframing the Artist 2009 Videonale 12, Bonn, DE, The Mad Masters¬ 2008 International Film Festival, 16th Curtas Vila do Conde, PT, If I were you ? LAS VEGAS NEW YORK BLACKPOOL, The Mad Masters 2008 37th International Filmfestival Rotterdam, NL If I were you ? LAS VEGAS NEW YORK BLACKPOOL Residencies 2006-2007 Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten/Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, 2009 Meetfactory, Prague, CZ 2011 Incheon Art Platform, KR 2012 Changdong Studios, Seoul, KR (upcoming) Prices, Awards 2012 Principal Price, 58th International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, for Reframing the Artist, Netherlands, 2010 Fellowships/stipends 2011/12 The Netherlands Film Fund, research subsidy on DVD movie piracy 2011/12 Fonds BKVB, standard werkbudget for Noire et Blanche in combination with a residency in Incheon Art Platform, Korea 2010 Fonds BKVB, werkbudget for Detective project ? The Student of Prague 2009 Fonds BKVB, standard werkbudget for MeetFactory artist residency 2009 The Netherlands Film Fund, NL for Reframing the Artist 2008 Fonds BKVB, basis stipend, NL 2007 Hessische Kulturstiftung, DE, for The Mad Masters and If I were you ? LAS VEGAS NEW YORK BLACKPOOL 2006 DAAD, Berlin, DE 2006 Kunststiftung NRW, DE 2003 Kunststiftung NRW, DE, for Safety Hour 2003 Kulturstiftung Dresden der Dresdner Bank, DE, studio stipend `dynamo.eintracht`
Ben Pointeker
. ..... .:.:...:::ccccoCCoooo::
Experimental film | dv | color | 9:30 | Austria | 2006
One of the pragmatic solutions to the problem of how people will be able to find their way in a theatre or cinema are the small lights that, hidden in this place or that, show the audience where to step and where not, and where to choose a chair. Now imagine: complete darkness. Enter. Ask yourself to stop imagining and look at . ..... .:.:...:::ccccoCCoooo:: While looking at it, the question becomes: what is looking? At this point the guiding lights may come back with a vengeance. Usually we look in order to orient ourselves. Either in response or consequently, much arts is directed at disorienting ourselves. That leaves the question unanswered as to what looking is. Still, that is one of the key questions in Pointekers work. In order to be able to answer that question, Pointeker has to both steer away from, and connect to the average language of cinema ? and photography. The way in which he succeeds in doing that reminds one of concrete poetry. But this is not more than a reminder. Concrete poetry was by and large a response to something else: what we knew already. Dialectically, concrete poetry remained bound up with what we already knew. In terms of cinema, Pointeker somehow knows how to escape that route. He doesn?t show it, though. What he shows is what appears. We find ourselves in complete darkness. A light shines, some lights shine: a car makes its way. Let?s take that literally: ?a car makes its way?. This is not a car that is being used to get from here to there. Making light, the car makes a way. Other images follow: all make way. We look, caught in the light of what is being shown ? and we start to sense what looking is. (Frans-Willem Korsten)
Ben Pointeker
Impassenger
Experimental video | hdv | color | 6:0 | Austria | 2017
A cinematic poem shrouded in shadow and mist. An image of water whose surface reflects the surrounding light. The hands of a woman holding a purse in the gloom of a city street. A snow-covered mountain landscape with massive trees reached by a cable lift. Through the sensitive composition of the film, these seemingly banal images begin to speak and reveal an inner world, an inward dream landscape of anxiety, alienation, isolation, and desire. Entrancing poetry relies on a delicate grasp but it’s impossible to resist its inner magic. (Hubert Poul)
Ben Pointeker is a visual artist and filmmaker based in Vienna. His work often sets in between film and photography and is concerned with poetics, patterns of narrative cinema, the notion of time, ambiguous realities and fantasy. Previously based in The Netherlands he graduated from Piet Zwart Institute and won the Prix de Rome basic award. He is also a graduate of the University of applied arts Vienna and was artist in residence at Wiels in Brussels, in Shanghai and most recently at Bòlit in Girona in the framework of The Spur. He has exhibited at institutions such as Secession Vienna, Kunstpavillon Innsbruck, Contemporary Art Center Vilnius, Filmmuseum Amsterdam and major film festivals.
Fernanda Polacow
Big Bang Henda
Experimental doc. | digital | color | 22:0 | Brazil, Portugal | 2023
Toppling statues and symbols, constructing new memories, framing the destroyed landscape, writing letters to the future, reversing power dynamics: BIG BANG HENDA is a documentary-poetry-manifesto about the work of Angolan artist Kiluanji Kia Henda. He takes us on a journey through his creations and reflections, which are at the forefront of anti-colonial thinking, urging us to consider how generations that grew up during or in the aftermath of the war reinterpret this event.
Fernanda is a screenwriter and director, living between Brazil and Portugal. She has been working in the intersections between Brazil, Portugual and the African Portuguese speaking countries and former colonies of Portugal for decades. Her first feature as a writer, Mosquito, was the opening film at the Rotterdam FF (2020) and won the Critics Prize at the São Paulo International FF (2020) besides touring dozens of festivals. Her second feature, The Last Summer, is currently in production after being selected for the Script Station at Berlinale 2023 and RACCONTI. She has been developing, writing, and directing for TV, streaming and cinema, and some of her works have received awards and nominations at the Brazilian Cinema Academy, New York TV&Film Festival, Hollywood Woman’s FF, among others. She is part of the Torino Film Lab 2023. She is a co-founder of MUTIM, a woman in film association in Portugal.
Wiktor Polak
Blisko
Art vidéo | dv | color | 5:49 | Poland | 2008
?Blisko? (?Close?) ? about alienation in the big city. The artificial light inside the night trams creates a new reality.
I was born in 1979. Between 1998 and 2004, I studied at the Władysław Strzemiński Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź. In 2004, under the tutelage of prof. Grzegorz Przyborek, I obtained the certificate and title of Master of Fine Arts in asvertising photography. Since 2003, I have also participated in multimedia workshops held by prof. Konrad Kuzyszyn and Łukasz Ogórek, MFA. I was a post-graduate, free participant there. Since that time, my interests hav revolved around film and video. In 2007, I went on a three-month scholarship to France, organised by the Strasbourg Klub, the City of Strasbourg as well as the CAAC.
Esther Polak, Ivar Van Bekkum
A Collision of Sorts
Experimental doc. | hdv | color | 17:0 | Netherlands, USA | 2017
In A Collision of Sorts, inhabitants of the City of Philadelphia, (Pennsylvania, US) go there way, as discontinuous moving dots on a flat surface. The world in which this film plays is Google Earth: an alienating landscape of almost seamlessly stitched-together satellite images of the familiar planet we humans are moving around on. On Google Earth, nothing moves. Buildings, bridges and cars seem warped and flattened and compete for attention with the black weirdness of their own shadows. A virtual camera shows this frozen flattened landscape, reconnoitring the cityscape of the city. Meanwhile we hear sounds and voices. People and animals are down there, crossing the country. It is them who share a physical reality: we hear very intimately their breath, the rustling of clothes, traffic, their vehicles. They travel from one place to another giving the suggestion of a destination. They talk about encounters, visual, economic, political, social and personal but never the main characters seem to meet. Until a bad dream of one of them seems to come true.
Esther Polak and Ivar van Bekkum work together as artist-couple under the name PolakVanBekkum. Routed in the history of the Dutch realistic landscape depiction, they express personal experiences of moving and space. Their projects are often informed by collaborations with participants, be it humans, animals, or even the rays of the sun. Their work has been shown at amongst others: FID Marseille, Transmediale Berlin, Ars Electronica Linz, ZKM Karlsruhe, Media-Lab Prado Madrid; INIVA London, IMAL Brussels, Rento Brattinga | Galerie Amsterdam, Pixelache Helsinki, Lagos, Biennale Marrakech, Philadelphia and Los Angeles. 2016 Special Mention for the film Once We Get There Riga 2015 Expanded Media Preis For Network Culture at Stuttgarter Filmwinters - for “The Mailman’s Bag” 2005 Golden Nica for Interactive Art at Ars Electronica together with Ieva Auzina, with MILKproject. Esther Polak studied at the Rijksakademie for visual Arts in Amsterdam and the Royal Academy of Visual Arts in The Hague, NL Ivar van Bekkum studied journalism at the School for Journalism, Kampen, NL
Ulrich Polster
Frost (I)
Art vidéo | dv | color | 5:51 | Germany, Russia | 2003
Léonard Pongo
Tales From The Source
Experimental video | mov | color | 38:19 | Belgium, Congo (RDC) | 2024
Tales from the Source offers a gaze on the landscapes of the Democratic Republic of Congo to translate a sense of its unfathomable power, diversity and knowledge. The scenery is presented as a character acting as a living entity and inhabited by the symbolism of Congolese traditions. The visual approach borrows techniques from multispectral imaging, resulting in an otherworldly experience with surreal lights and colour. Combined with an original musical composition by Bear Bones, Lay Low, we enter into a sensory dialogue with the landscape, an intelligent, ageless being in constant transformation that challenges our perception.
Léonard Pongo (b. 1988, Liège, Belgium) is a visual artist and filmmaker who lives and works between Belgium and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Pongo's work explores the complexities of perception, and representation while challenging conventional portrayals of the DRC with a focus on traditional narratives and symbols, and their connection to the land. Initially trained as a photojournalist, Pongo's artistic journey began in 2011 when he traveled to the DRC to cover the presidential elections. This experience profoundly transformed his approach to photography, shifting from objective documentation to a more subjective and experiential mode of expression. His family and local communities challenged his initial perspective, encouraging him to develop a more nuanced and intimate portrayal of Congolese life. Pongo is renowned for his mixed-media installations that integrate textiles, photography, diverse printing techniques, and moving images. His work draws deeply from Congolese cosmologies and oral traditions, particularly embracing the concept that "not everything is visible." Using specialized techniques including full-spectrum photography that captures wavelengths beyond human vision, he reveals aspects of landscapes and experiences typically hidden from view. His long-term project "The Uncanny" (2011-2017) explores daily life in the DRC through evocative black-and-white imagery that creates a dreamlike atmosphere, while "Primordial Earth" (2017-ongoing) focuses on the land using color photography, textiles, and video installations to evoke a sense of spirituality and interconnectedness. His latest film, "Tales from the Source" (2021-2024), extends his focus on traditional narratives, focusing on the luba cultures and highlighting the intertwined nature of culture and environment. Pongo's collaborative approach involves working closely with communities across the DRC, drawing inspiration from their knowledge, stories, and traditions and creating visuals that align with the lineage of Luba traditions by creating contemporary forms connected to ancestral concepts and visions. His work has been exhibited internationally at prestigious venues including the Bozar Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels, the Tate Modern in London, the Dakar biennale in Senegal, and the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. In 2023, his first monograph "The Uncanny" was published by Gostbooks, and in 2025 he was selected as one of ArtReview's "Future Greats" by photographer Roger Ballen.
Penka Popova
On the 16-th of February 2005
Art vidéo | dv | color | 11:8 | Bulgaria | 2005
"On the 16-th of February 2005" video work resembles a time-based painting depicting (documenting) a woman sitting by a table. At first sight, the sight looks completely still. The image awakens curiosity and contemplation as to what really happens as time moves forward. Consequently, the viewer could clearly determine that objects change locations, however the process of their movement remains unnoticeable. In the end time moves ?faster?, revealing some of the surrounding space and the author in the process of videotaping what is happening in front of her eyes. The video footage has not been altered in order for me to reach the "stillness" effect; it is completely true to the real site and time.
I was born and raised in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. I started my fine art education at my age of twelve with painting and drawing lessons. I graduated the College of Theater and Fine Arts, Plovdiv, Bulgaria in 1991. Later I studied at the National Academy of Fine Arts, Sofia, Bulgaria, majoring in Stage Design in the class of Professor Svetoslav Kokalov. I concentrated mainly on classical playwrights such as Sophocles, Shakespeare and Chekhov. In 2001 I graduated the MFA Photo and Digital Imaging program at The Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, USA, class of Professor William Larson and media theorist Timothy Druckrey. My current work investigates the limits of perception, attempting to express in different forms the presence of the hidden/invisible. Since 2001 I live and work in Chicago, Illinois.
Pere Portabella
La tempesta
Experimental doc. | 35mm | color and b&w | 3:0 | Spain | 2003
Naked bodies are buffeted by water accompanied by the music Il Temporale from the opera La Cenerentola and the overture to Il Barbiere di Siviglia both by Gioacchino Rossini. The film is part of a show by Carles Santos: El compositor, la cantante, el cocinero y la pecadora (The composer, the Singer, the Cook and the Sinner).
Ever since the 1960s, Pere Portabella involved himself in the movements against the Franco dictatorship and in support of liberties. In 1977, he was elected senator in the first democratic elections, and took part in the drafting of the Spanish constitution (1978). Since 2001, he has chaired the Fundación Alternativas. Before working as a director, with Films 59, he produced some of the most emblematic spanish films: Los golfos (1959) by Carlos Saura, El cochecito (1960) by Marco Ferreri and Viridiana (1961) by Luis Buñuel wich provoked a scandal that obliged him to move to Italy. In 1964, he wrote the screenplay for Il momento della verità with Francesco Rosi. He began directing in 1967 with No compteu amb els dits followed by his first feature-length film, Nocturno 29 (1968). Vampir-Cuadeduc (1970) is a key work in his filmography, togheter with Umbracle (1972), represents a phase of radical rupture with the production of those years and marked him as one of the most original forces in underground and avantgarde cinema of the time. After Informe General of 1976 he only returned to directing in 1989, with Pont de Varsòvia. In 2001, his films became part of the collection of the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA). In 2002, he was the only Spanish artist to be invited to Documenta 11 in Kassel. In 2008, the Museum of Modern Art of New York (MoMA) acquires a copy of Vampir-Cuadecuc and Die Stille vor Bach (2007).
Pere Portabella
Miró l?altre
Experimental doc. | 16mm | black and white | 12:0 | Spain | 1969
As publicity for the exhibit Miró L`altre, organized by the Colegio de Arquitectos de Catalunya in 1969, the Board commissioned Pere Portabella to film Miró painting the "poster" for the exhibit on the ground floor windows of the building. Portabella was not interested in simply filming a testimonial documentary. However, he said he would do the film if after the exhibit Joan Miró himself, with the help of the cleaning staff erased his own painting. Joan Miró accepted the idea without a doubt. The complicity between the film maker and the painter is evident in the filming.
Ever since the 1960s, Pere Portabella involved himself in the movements against the Franco dictatorship and in support of liberties. In 1977, he was elected senator in the first democratic elections, and took part in the drafting of the Spanish constitution (1978). Since 2001, he has chaired the Fundación Alternativas. Before working as a director, with Films 59, he produced some of the most emblematic spanish films: Los golfos (1959) by Carlos Saura, El cochecito (1960) by Marco Ferreri and Viridiana (1961) by Luis Buñuel wich provoked a scandal that obliged him to move to Italy. In 1964, he wrote the screenplay for Il momento della verità with Francesco Rosi. He began directing in 1967 with No compteu amb els dits followed by his first feature-length film, Nocturno 29 (1968). Vampir-Cuadeduc (1970) is a key work in his filmography, togheter with Umbracle (1972), represents a phase of radical rupture with the production of those years and marked him as one of the most original forces in underground and avantgarde cinema of the time. After Informe General of 1976 he only returned to directing in 1989, with Pont de Varsòvia. In 2001, his films became part of the collection of the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA). In 2002, he was the only Spanish artist to be invited to Documenta 11 in Kassel. In 2008, the Museum of Modern Art of New York (MoMA) acquires a copy of Vampir-Cuadecuc and Die Stille vor Bach (2007).
Pere Portabella
Mudanza
Documentary | betaSP | color | 20:0 | Spain | 2008
Pere Portabella
Miró forja
Experimental doc. | 16mm | color and b&w | 24:0 | Spain | 1973
The film was conmissioned by the Galeria Maeght to commemorate the Joan Miró exhibit organized by the French Minsitry of Cultural Affairs in the Grand Palais in Paris that opened on May 17, 1974. The film, that took five days to shoot, shows the smelting and casting process of the work known as Puertas Mallorquinas by Joan Miró. The filming team travelled to the foundry owned by the Parellada family in Llinars de Munt. The bronze sculptures weigh 1200, 800 and 650 kilos respectively and were cast in one piece in a kiln specially constructed for the occasion.
Ever since the 1960s, Pere Portabella involved himself in the movements against the Franco dictatorship and in support of liberties. In 1977, he was elected senator in the first democratic elections, and took part in the drafting of the Spanish constitution (1978). Since 2001, he has chaired the Fundación Alternativas. Before working as a director, with Films 59, he produced some of the most emblematic spanish films: Los golfos (1959) by Carlos Saura, El cochecito (1960) by Marco Ferreri and Viridiana (1961) by Luis Buñuel wich provoked a scandal that obliged him to move to Italy. In 1964, he wrote the screenplay for Il momento della verità with Francesco Rosi. He began directing in 1967 with No compteu amb els dits followed by his first feature-length film, Nocturno 29 (1968). Vampir-Cuadeduc (1970) is a key work in his filmography, togheter with Umbracle (1972), represents a phase of radical rupture with the production of those years and marked him as one of the most original forces in underground and avantgarde cinema of the time. After Informe General of 1976 he only returned to directing in 1989, with Pont de Varsòvia. In 2001, his films became part of the collection of the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA). In 2002, he was the only Spanish artist to be invited to Documenta 11 in Kassel. In 2008, the Museum of Modern Art of New York (MoMA) acquires a copy of Vampir-Cuadecuc and Die Stille vor Bach (2007).
Pere Portabella
Miró Tapís
Experimental doc. | 16mm | color and b&w | 22:0 | Spain | 1973
The film was commissioned by the Galeria Maeght for the Joan Miró exhibit organized by the French Ministry of Cultural Affairs in the Grand Palais in Paris that opened on May 17, 1974. The film was shot in six days in Montroig del Camp (the Miró country home) and in Tarragona during the process of elaboration of an original tapestry for eight months using 1200 kilos of wool and 600 kilos for the warp. The tapestry was 6 meters wide and 11 meters long and weighed a total of 3,500 kilos. A special loom had tobe built to weave it. The day the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York were attacked, September 11, 2001, the tapestry was hanging in the hall of the one of the towers and was destroyed along with it.
Ever since the 1960s, Pere Portabella involved himself in the movements against the Franco dictatorship and in support of liberties. In 1977, he was elected senator in the first democratic elections, and took part in the drafting of the Spanish constitution (1978). Since 2001, he has chaired the Fundación Alternativas. Before working as a director, with Films 59, he produced some of the most emblematic spanish films: Los golfos (1959) by Carlos Saura, El cochecito (1960) by Marco Ferreri and Viridiana (1961) by Luis Buñuel wich provoked a scandal that obliged him to move to Italy. In 1964, he wrote the screenplay for Il momento della verità with Francesco Rosi. He began directing in 1967 with No compteu amb els dits followed by his first feature-length film, Nocturno 29 (1968). Vampir-Cuadeduc (1970) is a key work in his filmography, togheter with Umbracle (1972), represents a phase of radical rupture with the production of those years and marked him as one of the most original forces in underground and avantgarde cinema of the time. After Informe General of 1976 he only returned to directing in 1989, with Pont de Varsòvia. In 2001, his films became part of the collection of the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA). In 2002, he was the only Spanish artist to be invited to Documenta 11 in Kassel. In 2008, the Museum of Modern Art of New York (MoMA) acquires a copy of Vampir-Cuadecuc and Die Stille vor Bach (2007).
Pere Portabella
Miró, Aides l?Espagne
Documentary | 16mm | black and white | 8:0 | Spain | 1969
The Colegio de Arquitectos de Catalunya commissioned Pere Portabella to make this film for the Joan Miró retrspective exhibit in 1969. There wew heated discussions on whether it would be rudent to screen the film during the exhibit. Portabella took the following stante: "either both films are screened or ther don`t screen any" and, finally, both Miro l`Altre and Aidez l`Espagne were shown. The film was made by combining newsreels and film material from the Spanish Civil War with prints by Miró from the series "Barcelona" (1939-1944). The film ends with the painter`s "pochoir" known as Aidez l`Espagne.
Ever since the 1960s, Pere Portabella involved himself in the movements against the Franco dictatorship and in support of liberties. In 1977, he was elected senator in the first democratic elections, and took part in the drafting of the Spanish constitution (1978). Since 2001, he has chaired the Fundación Alternativas. Before working as a director, with Films 59, he produced some of the most emblematic spanish films: Los golfos (1959) by Carlos Saura, El cochecito (1960) by Marco Ferreri and Viridiana (1961) by Luis Buñuel wich provoked a scandal that obliged him to move to Italy. In 1964, he wrote the screenplay for Il momento della verità with Francesco Rosi. He began directing in 1967 with No compteu amb els dits followed by his first feature-length film, Nocturno 29 (1968). Vampir-Cuadeduc (1970) is a key work in his filmography, togheter with Umbracle (1972), represents a phase of radical rupture with the production of those years and marked him as one of the most original forces in underground and avantgarde cinema of the time. After Informe General of 1976 he only returned to directing in 1989, with Pont de Varsòvia. In 2001, his films became part of the collection of the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA). In 2002, he was the only Spanish artist to be invited to Documenta 11 in Kassel. In 2008, the Museum of Modern Art of New York (MoMA) acquires a copy of Vampir-Cuadecuc and Die Stille vor Bach (2007).
Pere Portabella
No al no
Experimental doc. | 35mm | color | 3:0 | Spain | 2006
Carles Santos plays one of his pieces on the piano. This film was made for the exhibit on Carles Santos ¡Visca el piano! held at the Miro Foundation in the summer of 2006.
Ever since the 1960s, Pere Portabella involved himself in the movements against the Franco dictatorship and in support of liberties. In 1977, he was elected senator in the first democratic elections, and took part in the drafting of the Spanish constitution (1978). Since 2001, he has chaired the Fundación Alternativas. Before working as a director, with Films 59, he produced some of the most emblematic spanish films: Los golfos (1959) by Carlos Saura, El cochecito (1960) by Marco Ferreri and Viridiana (1961) by Luis Buñuel wich provoked a scandal that obliged him to move to Italy. In 1964, he wrote the screenplay for Il momento della verità with Francesco Rosi. He began directing in 1967 with No compteu amb els dits followed by his first feature-length film, Nocturno 29 (1968). Vampir-Cuadeduc (1970) is a key work in his filmography, togheter with Umbracle (1972), represents a phase of radical rupture with the production of those years and marked him as one of the most original forces in underground and avantgarde cinema of the time. After Informe General of 1976 he only returned to directing in 1989, with Pont de Varsòvia. In 2001, his films became part of the collection of the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA). In 2002, he was the only Spanish artist to be invited to Documenta 11 in Kassel. In 2008, the Museum of Modern Art of New York (MoMA) acquires a copy of Vampir-Cuadecuc and Die Stille vor Bach (2007).
Pere Portabella
Play Back
Experimental doc. | 16mm | black and white | 8:0 | Spain | 1970
Playback is presented as a short rehearsal in a double sense. It is a satellite of the constellation of works that Portabella dedicates to the analysis of the "materiality" of aesthetic and cultural languages (Vampir-Cuadecuc and Miró l`Altre among others can also be understood in this manner). At the same time, he analyzes the rehearsals that Carles Santos carries out for the playback recording of a film on the work of Antoni Gaudi. The choir of the Gran Teatro del Liceu of Barcelona reads fragments from Wagner`s Tannhauser, Lohengrin and the Valkyries. The film was shot in the theater "Lluïsos de Gràcia".
Ever since the 1960s, Pere Portabella involved himself in the movements against the Franco dictatorship and in support of liberties. In 1977, he was elected senator in the first democratic elections, and took part in the drafting of the Spanish constitution (1978). Since 2001, he has chaired the Fundación Alternativas. Before working as a director, with Films 59, he produced some of the most emblematic spanish films: Los golfos (1959) by Carlos Saura, El cochecito (1960) by Marco Ferreri and Viridiana (1961) by Luis Buñuel wich provoked a scandal that obliged him to move to Italy. In 1964, he wrote the screenplay for Il momento della verità with Francesco Rosi. He began directing in 1967 with No compteu amb els dits followed by his first feature-length film, Nocturno 29 (1968). Vampir-Cuadeduc (1970) is a key work in his filmography, togheter with Umbracle (1972), represents a phase of radical rupture with the production of those years and marked him as one of the most original forces in underground and avantgarde cinema of the time. After Informe General of 1976 he only returned to directing in 1989, with Pont de Varsòvia. In 2001, his films became part of the collection of the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA). In 2002, he was the only Spanish artist to be invited to Documenta 11 in Kassel. In 2008, the Museum of Modern Art of New York (MoMA) acquires a copy of Vampir-Cuadecuc and Die Stille vor Bach (2007).
Pere Portabella
Uno de aquellos
Experimental doc. | 35mm | color | 5:0 | Spain | 2009
Stuart Pound
Birdsong Marimba
Experimental video | dv | color and b&w | 7:5 | United Kingdom | 2005
In the aftermath of an impossible to reverse decision, a political debate is plunged into an ambient world of photo shoots, marimba and birdsong.
Stuart Pound has a background in film-making and computing, which digital video brought together. He started film-making in 1970 as a member of the London Film-makers Co-op and subsequently taught film-making at Nottingham Trent University until 1979. His work has been shown at various festivals, including several in London, as well as via the internet.
Stuart Pound
Tehran Trace
Art vidéo | dv | color | 7:25 | United Kingdom | 2005
Tehran Trace takes the same motion path slowly and silently across four still photographs; the foyer of the Hotel Laleh, the Mirror Hall of the Golestan Palace, a stone arch towards the north of the city, and a bazaar with a view of mountains. Each "trace" begins close up, curves away from its opening subject and ends with the original image fully framed.
Stuart Pound has a background in film-making and computing and digital video brought the two together. He started film-making in 1970 as a member of the London Film-makers Co-op and subsequently taught film-making at Nottingham Trent University until 1979. His work has been shown at festivals in London and elsewhere as well as via the internet Past screenings include at MoMA (Paris),Tate Modern, Impakt Festival Utrecht, London Film Festival, Split International Festival of New Film, VIPER (Basel), International Media Art Biennale Wroclaw, Vidéoformes Clermont-Ferrand , Media Forum, Moscow International Film Festival , prog:ME, Centro Cultural Telemar, Rio de Janeiro, KunstFilmBiennale Köln, Microwave International Media Art Festival, Hong Kong
Yvan Pousset
9°N
Experimental video | dv | color | 4:30 | France | 2006
The video opens with a character dressed in red, roaming a forest, searching for something in a quest that started before the beginning of the film. Like a contemporary Sisyphus, the character goes on with his task without respite, blind to the eye staring at him. The density of the forest sits between a long-distance perception of the character and an enclosing proximity due to the distinctness of the sounds when he moves (branches cracking, breathing, etc). The window scans the forest area around the character who appears to be a fixed spot on the projection surface. This space, this distance created between his outlying perception and his sonorous presence (as well as the one of the shooting device), allows the uncertainties of an image and its author (the one who is filming) to appear, the latter seemingly more lost in his filming intentions than the protagonist who, like Sisyphus, accepts his fate. Destructuring and dislocating each of the elements that make up an illusion could be a way to put the viewer back in his real-time position.
Yvan Pousset was born in 1977 in Rennes, France. After general artistic studies, he followed them up at Beaux-Arts d'Angers as a sculptor, and four years ago started to express himself through video work. All of his work in this medium is centred on the search of a materiality in the vibration of the pixels.