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26/4/2007

Electrones libres

Tabakalera Centro Internacional de Cultura Contemporanea, San Sebastian

Lemaître's video collection

Curated by Carolina Grau

The first exhibition produced at the International Centre of Contemporary Art: Free Electrons shows videos and films produced by twelve international contemporary artists. Selected by the curator Carolina Grau, they belong to one of the finest collections in Europe: the Lemaître collection. Artists: Johanna Billing, Yang Fudong, Fabien Giraud, Steve McQueen, Aernout Mik, Laurent Montaron, Pablo Pijnappel, Christoph Rütimann, Bojan Sarcevic, Catherine Sullivan, Ulla von Brandenburg, Clemens von Wedemeyer.

Johanna Billing - Where she is at

Johanna Billing
Where she is at, 2001
DVD, colour and sound
Runtime: 7 min 35 sec.

A girl climbs onto a high diving platform in a open-air swimming pool near Oslo. The girl doesn't jump. She looks down, and walks around the platform. She is thinking about it. Meanwhile the sunbathers and swimmers below have noticed her and are beginning to wonder whether she will dive. A boy joins her on the platform as she hesitates. Suddenly she overcomes her fears, and plunges. Billing observed this real event while in Oslo doing the research for this project and re-enacted it for Where she is at. Billing's work often revolve around achievement, social engagement and how we interact with our sourrundings.

Johanna Billing was born in 1973 in Jönköping, Sweden.She lives and works in Stockholm. She has just exhibited 'Another Album' at the Hollybush Gardens, in London and at La Caixa Forum, in Barcelona (2007). She has had individual exhibitions at P.S.1, in New York; at Index, in Stockholm and at the Kunsthall Oslo. She has participated in collective exhibitions such as Madrid Abierto (2007); Casino, in Luxembourg; the Singapore Biennale, in Singapore; Witte de With, in Rotterdam and at the Wexner Centre for the Arts, in the USA.

Yang Fudong - Backyard: Hey, Sun is Rising!

Yang Fudon
Backyard: Hey, Sun is Rising!, 2001
35mm film transferred to DVD, b/w. Music by Zhou Quing
Runtime: 13 min

Fudong's films reflects the stage of change in China, between rapid modernisation and social reform, and very traditional values and culture. Fudong's films are filmed locally, and made exclusively with young Chinese people. In Backyard: Hey, Sun is Rising! four young men dressed in mao suits perform exercises with traditional swords, massage and wrestling, as well as wandering the streets, dancing in the park and boating in the lake. The young men seem confused, and appear to be lost between past and present, between traditional rituals and martial arts, and the hedonistic life of today.

Yang Fudong was born in 1971 in Beijing, China. He lives and works in Shanghai. He has had individual exhibitions at Parasol Unit, in London; at the Kunsthalle Vienna; the Stedelijk Museum, in Amsterdam; the Castello di Rivoli, in Turin and at the MOMA, in New York. He has participated in collective exhibitions such as Documenta 11, in Kassel; 1 Moscow Biennale, in Moscow; at the Tate Modern, in London; at the Carniege International, in the USA and at the Centre Pompidou, in Paris.

Fabien Giraud - The Straight Edge

Fabien Giraud
The Straight Edge, 2005
DVD, colour and sound
Runtime: 13 min
Produced by Le Fresnoy, Studio National, France

This video installation captures the performance of 200 people dancing in silence. We only hear the sound of the bodies in movement, the rhythm of the crowd and their excitement. The crowd and its intense communal activity provide the material for the image of a moving order. This is a "straight edge" (*) concert, organised by Giraud. Straight Edge is a phylosophy associated with hardcore punk music that also believes in abstention from drugs and alcohol.
(*) The name comes from the 1981 song 'Straight Edge' by the punk band Minor Threat.

Fabien Giraud was born in 1980 in Paris, France, where he currently lives and works. He studied at Le Fresnoy, Studio National des arts contemporains, in France (2006). He has exhibited in the Modules series of the Palais de Tokyo, in Paris and at Espai 13, in the Miró Foundation, Barcelona.

Steve McQueen - Exodus

Steve McQueen
Exodus, 1992/97
Super 8 film, colour, transferred to video, mute
Runtime: 1 min 05 sec

While studying at Goldsmiths College, McQueen, decided to use a Super 8 camera as his sketchbook, on his journeys out and about in London. Exodus is the result of that early experiment, the film roll left abandoned in a box for five years until McQueen rediscovered it. Two men in hats and raincoats walk through London's East End, carrying with them large potted palms. McQueen follow their route, as they make their way throught the streets. The figures sometimes disappear amongst the crowds, but the plants always remain visible, as they are carried along the pavements. "It was like filming the Yeti" McQueen says, "Right time. Right place. It would never, ever happen again" (Interview by Tim Adams, The Guardian, London, 10th October, 1999)

Steve McQueen was born in 1969, in the United Kingdom. He lives and works in Amsterdam. He has had individual exhibitions at the Musée d'art moderne de la Ville, in Paris; at Artangel, in London; at Museu Serralves, in Porto; at the Art Institute Chicago, in the USA and at the Tapies Foundation, in Barcelona.

Aernout Mik - Park

Aernout Mik
Park, 2002
Betacam, colour and mute. Video installation: Retroprojection
Runtime: 20 min

Mik's works combine sculpture, installation, performance and projected image. Mik's installations often invade or disappear in the space of the gallery. There is no story or sound. We are confronted with actions we recognise, but which are juxtaposed in such a way that they present us with an illogical or incomprehensible narrative. In Park, a single screen retroprojection, a group of people congregate around a large tree. Some of them walk round the tree, others appear to be dancing. There are dogs. Someone is reading the newspaper, and others look like they are playing cards. No one appears to pay any attention to any of the rest.

Aernout Mik was born in 1962 in Groningen, Netherlands. He lives and works in Amsterdam. He will exhibit his work at the Dutch Pavilion during the 52nd Venice Biennale in June, and at the BAK, basis voor actuele kunst, in Utrecht, in September. He has just exhibited at the Camden Arts Centre, in London, and has exhibited at the Bergen Kunsthall, in Norway; the Kunstverein Hannover, in Germany and at the Institute of Contemporary Art, in London.

Laurent Montaron - Park

Laurent Montaron
Rounded with a Sleep , 2002
Video (HD Cam), colour and sound
Runtime: 5 min
Produced by galerie schleicher+lange Paris in collaboration with Christophe Acker / ADN Factory

«We are such stuff,
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep�
William Shakespeare, The Tempest, IV, I

A group of adolescents wander aimlessly in a deserted patch of countryside. Their intention is to engage in a ritual that enables them to plunge into a different state of mind. They deliberately help one other lose consciousness, a self-inflicted blackout, that makes them experience dizziness and complete loss of perception. Montaron films have a graphic cinematic quality that creates an enigmatic atmosphere.

Laurent Montaron was born in 1972 in Verneuil-sur-Avre, France. He lives and works in Paris. He has had individual exhibitions at the Centre national de la photographie, in Paris; at LMAKprojects, in New York and at the Centre d'art contemporain de Noisy-le-Sec, in France. He has participated in collective exhibitions at the CAPC, the Musée d'art contemporain, in Bordeaux; the Royal College of Art, Curating MA, in London; the Musée d'art moderne de la Ville, in Paris and at De Appel, in Amsterdam.

Pablo Pijnappel - Andrew Reid

Pablo Pijnappel
Andrew reid , 2003
DVD, colour and sound
Runtime: 24 min

Pijnappel's works focus on the histories of individuals in relationship to his family and its history. These protagonists are adventurers and explorers of the new countries, who are trying to define their identities as they move from place to place. Andrew Reid is the story of Pijnappel's stepfather, who has lived in several countries in Latin America, Europe and the USA. The video is presented in three parts, in which Pijnappel plays with different conventions of cinematographic narrative. Against a blank screen we hear the telephone conversations between Pijnappel and Andrew, about whether or not Andrew is coming to Amsterdam from Brazil. After every telephone conversation we see the view of Amsterdam from Pijnappel's flat, as he puts the phone down and looks out of the window. A further combination of found footage from films, documentaries and photos illustrates the story, with a narration by a female voice, of Andrew Reid and his family.

Pablo Pijnappel was born in 1979 in Paris, France. He lives and works in Amsterdam. He is finishing his residence at the Rijkasakademie, in Amsterdam. He has participated in several exhibitions at the Witte de With, in Rotterdam; the Kunsthalle Fridericianum, in Kasel; the Artists Space, in New York and at the Museum De Hallen, in the Netherlands.

Christoph Rütimann - Handlauf, Um und nach Stans

Christoph Rütimann
Handlauf, Um und nach Stans , 2001
DVD, colour and sound
Runtime: 60 min

Rütimann takes us on a journey with his video camera, crossing rural and urban spaces, following the lines he finds in the architecture and spaces around him. These performances are titled Handlauf, meaning handrail. In the case of Handlauf, Um und nach Stans, Rütimann has chosen a specific area of Switzerland, Stans. We see tubes, fences and banisters, and the artist follows them with his hand-held camera, using each of them as a track or rail, and allowing them to direct his path. Our gaze always following the straight line in front of the camera, on a strange and bizarre journey.

Christoph Rütimann was born in 1955 in Zurich. He lives and works in Mullheim, Switzerland. He has been doing performances since 1983, and one of the most known was Hanging on the Museum at the Kunstmuseum in Lucerne (2002). He has had individual exhibitions at the main centres and museums of Switzerland, and he represented his country at the Venice Biennale in 1993.

Bojan Sarcevic - Animal is in the World as Water in the Water

Bojan Sarcevic
Animal is in the World as Water in the Water , 1999
DVD, colour and sound
Runtime: 8 min

Sarcevic has placed hidden cameras inside a typical Dutch church, with its plain walls, stone floor, dark benches and burning candles. The camera follows three dogs inside the church, doing what dogs do: sniffing, playing, being bored, barking when someone practices the organ. Sarcevic creates an unlikely juxtaposition - the church as a sacred place of meditation and decorum, and the lives of dogs, oblivious to human cultural and spiritual aspirations.

Bojan Sarcevic was born in 1974 in Belgrade, Serbia. He lives and works in Berlin and Paris. He has had individual exhibitions at the ArtPace Foundation, in Texas, USA; the Stedelijk Museum, in Amsterdam and at the Kunstverein in Munich and Düsseldorf. He has participated in collective exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art, in Chicago; at the Tate Modern, in London, at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la ville in Paris, as well as at the 50th Venice Biennale and the 3rd Berlin Biennale.

Catherine Sullivan - Tis Pity She?s a Fluxus Whore

Catherine Sullivan
Tis Pity She�s a Fluxus Whore , 2003
Two 16 mm transferred to DVD, colour and sound. Diptych installation.
Runtime: 20 min

Sullivan has been exploring the relationship and differences between performance and the moving image. Tis Pity She's a Fluxus Whore brings together two different performance traditions: the seventeenth-century Jacobean drama 'Tis Pity She's a Whore' by John Ford, and twentieth century Fluxus actions. Sullivan has choosen two very specific events that caused scandal: the 1943 production of Ford's play at the Wadsworth Atheneum, USA, and the Fluxus Festival of New Art at the Audimax lecture theater at the Technische Horchschule in Aachen, Germany, on 20th July 1964. Sullivan has the same actor, Andrzej Krukowski, filmed in the same locations, playing both the Fluxus event and the Jacobean piece; but episodes from the play are performed in Fluxus style, while the Fluxus action is performed as though it were a drama.

Catherine Sullivan was born in 1968 in Los Angeles, USA, where she currently lives and works. She has had individual exhibitions at the Tate Modern, in London; at the Secession, in Vienna; the Kunsthalle, in Zurich; the Renaissance Society, in Chicago and at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, in Connecticut. She has participated in collective exhibitions such as the Whitney Museum Biennale, in New York; the Foundation Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, in Turin; at the Vancouver Art Gallery, in Canada and at the Kunsthaus Graz, in Austria.

Ulla von Brandenburg - Around

Ulla von Brandenburg
Around, 2005
16 mm transferred to video, b/w and mute
Runtime: 2 min 30 sec

Von Brandeburg's films, installations and performances make use of poses and gestures from art history, commedia dell'arte, theatre, circus, hollywood films, literature and photography. The film Around shows us the image of a group of people standing together, and turning their backs to the camera in the middle of the street. The camera tries to circle the group and catch their faces, but the group turns in circles as though under spell, defeating our attempt to glimpse them at every turn. Brandenburg use of silent and black-and-white film lends the work a misterious atmosphere.

Ulla von Brandenburg was born in 1974 in Karlsruhe, Germany. She lives and works in Hamburg and Paris. Se has just had an individual exhibition at Art: Concept, in Paris, and she also exhibited at the Palais de Tokyo, in Paris and at the Kunsthalle in Zurich. She has participated in collective exhibitions at the Tate Modern, in London; the Wattis Institute, in San Francisco; the Kunstverein in Hamburg and at the Musée d'art modern de la Ville in Paris.

Clemens von Wedemeyer - Untitled (Reconstruction)

Clemens von Wedemeyer
Untitled (Reconstruction), 2005
16 mm transferred to DVD, b/w and sound
Runtime: 3 min

Von Brandeburg's films, installations and performances make use of poses and gestures from art history, commedia dell'arte, theatre, circus, hollywood films, literature and photography. The film Around shows us the image of a group of people standing together, and turning their backs to the camera in the middle of the street. The camera tries to circle the group and catch their faces, but the group turns in circles as though under spell, defeating our attempt to glimpse them at every turn. Brandenburg use of silent and black-and-white film lends the work a misterious atmosphere.

Clemens von Wedemeyer was born in 1974 in Göttingen, Germany. He lives in Berlin and Leipzig. This summer, he will participate in Skulptur Projekte, in Münster, Germany. He has had individual exhibitions at PS1, in New York; at the Kolnischer Kunstverein, in Germany and at the CAC Brétigny-sur-Orge, in France. He has participated in collective collections at the Centre Pompidou, in Paris; at the Turin Triennale, in Turin; at the 4th Berlin Biennale, in Berlin, and at the Kunsthalle Bremen, in Germany.

Tabacalera
Duque de Mandas street 52 - San Sebastian

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