Deimantas Narkevicius
dal 28/10/2008 al 19/12/2008
Segnalato da
28/10/2008
Deimantas Narkevicius
Galerie Barbara Weiss (old location), Berlin
The Dud Effect. The work of the Lithuanian film and video artist addresses perceptions of history as reflected through contemporary and subjective points of view. He combines a number of strands of historical development with personal experience, linking the people he films with the context of their urban and economic environments.
The work of the Lithuanian film and video artist Deimantas Narkevičius
(born in 1964, lives in Vilnius) addresses perceptions of history as
reflected through contemporary and subjective points of view. Using
various film and narrative strategies, Narkevičius combines a number of
strands of historical development with personal experience, linking the
people he films with the context of their urban and economic
environments. Narkevičius studied sculpture, and he sees film making as
the production of digital sculptures. His aim is to identify and define
specific places with their own specific structures.
Galerie Barbara Weiss is pleased to be showing our first solo show by
the internationally renowned artist, entitled /The Dud Effect/.
Narkevičius represented Lithuania at the 49th Biennale in Venice in
2001, and has since attracted considerable attention – with his
exhibition at the Berlin Akademie der Künste in 2006 and as a
participant in /Skulptur Projekte Münster 07/, with his film /Once in
the XX Century/. Most recently, Narkevičius received the Vincent Award
2008 from the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, in recognition of his oeuvre
to date. In December he will be presenting a solo show entitled /The
Unanimous Life/ at the Museo Nacional De Arte Reina Sofia in Madrid, and
this will then move on to the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven in February 2009.
In /The Dud Effect /Deimantas Narkevičius is showing his first work,
/Europa 54° 54' – 25° 19'/, made in 1997, and also his most recent film,
/The Dud Effect/, made in 2008.
A dud is a bomb that does not explode. The film is set on a deserted
former Soviet missile base in Lithuania. During the Cold War category
R12 nuclear missiles were stationed here that were aimed at the West.
Narkevičius combines archive photo material with new film of the now
semi-decrepit missile base and its enormous underground catacombs. The
main protagonist, Evgeny Terentiev, is a former officer who served at a
military base in Lithuania, like the one shown in the film. He
demonstrates the firing of an R12 nuclear missile, following the exact
sequence of commands as he recalls it. The Dud Effect thus shows a very
precise fictional recreation of the firing of a missile, but staged for
a contemporary audience, and it also presents a detailed exploration in
film of the landscape with the remains of the massive missile base. The
intention of the artist is to show the psychological perception and also
consternation at the extent of the destruction that was possible.
/Europa 54° 54' – 25° 19' /is a 16 mm documentary film of a car journey
the artist made one Friday morning in the 1990s, from his apartment at
the time to the geographical centre of Europe. The narrative tone of the
soundtrack reveals the reason for this excursion. The camera takes us
through very ordinary parts of the city of Vilnius to the destination,
which is just a few kilometres beyond the city outskirts.
Opening: Wednesday, October 29, 2008, 6-9 pm
Galerie Barbara Weiss
Zimmerstrasse 88-91 - Berlin
Gallery hours: Tue-Sat, 11 am -6 pm
Free admission