The body, that mysterious vehicle sustaining us, that bunch of flesh, blood, spirit and soul, is the starting-point for research by students of VAV, the Rietveld Academy’s department of the moving image. The result can be seen in the spaces of the Close-Up exhibition, which presents the work of a new generation of film and video artists.
The students approached the body from various angles. There is the body that fuses with digital tools and gadgets like the smart phone and the tablet, as a kind of foreshadowing of the cyborg future that may be in store for us; there is the body expressing emotions, as through dance and movement; and there is the body as a vulnerable object, in need of love and attention to keep developing.
Bodies takes the body to the audience with an installation in the group exhibition Close-Up – A New Generation of Film and Video Artists in the Netherlands. The contribution is part of the Research Lab series. Every two weeks EYE invites students from Dutch art schools or other academies to present work. The focus is on the research process, if relevant using EYE’s collections.
The screening starts at 7.15 pm in Cinema 2 and continues an hour later in the exhibition space with the new presentation of the Research Lab. The exhibition Close-Up will be open until 9 pm for visitors of the Research Lab.
The program and the works:
Introduction Piece by Nicolina Eklund & Ivana Filip, 15 sec, performance
The artists embrace all the questions that appear clearer the further we creep into the new digital posthuman era and with a wild mash-up of disciplines, they are guiding us deeper into the nooks and creases of the breathing theme of the expo.
10 bumpers by Tomas Ermin & Catoo Kemperman, bumpers
Just when you thought you could rest your mind for a sec…
Parade by Gaspard Combes, 47 sec, video
Let’s dance, move and imagine to fill up the void and feel alive. Create a path in this empty field of loneliness. For once be the actor of our life in this grotesque reality. To illustrate this hope, here is a man who craves to show you his own Mad parade.
Malleable Flesh by Claire van der Mee 4.48 min, video
A look into the traditions of a sub-culture. As they prepare themselves; pulling on their skin-colored garments, covering their faces in latex masks, all we can do is wonder: What is it that they’re getting ready for?
Look Into My Eyes by Anne Barlinckhoff, 1.16 min, video
In permanent love with women and their figures. A landscape in South Africa seen through pink glasses like a dream world.
Just because I’m standing here doesn’t mean I want to. Wake up and look into my eyes.
Hexentanz “The Witch Dance” by Michela Filzi, 4.20 min, video
An experimental video work on the topic of spirituality through dance. Inspired by the choreography of Mary Wigman first solo dance (1918); Exploring the notion of transformation and witchcraft through light, colours and sound.
One At A Time by Luciënne Venner, 9.43 min, video
One At A Time is an experimental one-shot film that examines how a person develops multiple personalities. The secret of their path, the non-coherent ‘I’, changes in facial expression, tone of voice, body posture and relationships within the alter egos regarding the outside world. Experimenting with synergy between fiction and reality, thereby showing the mental and physical journey of the protagonist as lemniscate.
Manual Focus by Elfi Seidel, 1.27 min, video
The film Manual Focus proposes a succession of hand gestures derived from various encoded systems that do and do not have literal equivalences in languages we are familiar with. It is a potpourri that wants to offer moments of accessibility while also staying nonconcrete for a large part.
WE’RE/WHERE by Lisa van der Breggen, 4.48 min, video
Research of the visual aspects that show the different layers and situations that occur when someone experiences disorientation. The individuality of each moment, how they are still connected, and the transition between chaos and stillness.
The Blow by Rodrigo N Albornoz, 4.44 min, video
The blow of the wind brings the things back and forward, close and distant…the distant closeness that means to live abroad from our own culture, friends and family. The never-ending movement from one place to another, migrating, transmigrating, always trying to find peace and the way out of the conflict, to re-connect with one self again, from another point of view, from the inner silence of being human.
Body Text by Danit Elgev, 2.30 min, video
This is a short animation that is telling a story about a man.
In today’s interpersonal communication, we rely a lot on text.
The story is told only by words and movement of the actual text.
Vensolin by Hansje Hofland, 4 min, video
An intergalactic hangover.
HAHA -TRASHGARDE by Sandra Golub, 10 sec, video and audio installation
i hate 2015
sweet 6teen
3o s coming
im sodrunk
on my best birthday
if not cancer
if not a pistol
if not a knife
then drugs
las vegas here i come
Bronzed material by Real Lee, 40 sec, video installation
not too much, just slightly dark
flipping and flipping and flipping
until when the heat goes down
the perfect glossy dark, that’s what you get
More Than Words by Ivana Filip, photographs
Where is the border between me and the other; and what if the other is a dear and furry friend, the cat? Our daily animal companions define us and in this family story, we wished to merge and morphe into each other.
Haar borsten popten als puisten / Her breasts popped like pimples by Carlijn Fransen, 12 sec, 8mm film loop
Avalanche by Elzbieta Pamela Szota, 3 min, performance
It is Sunday afternoon. I am watching television. On the screen, I see a skiing competition, and myself among the participants. Nice, nice! Good job Elisabeth, who would not be proud of you!
EYE on Art 