Tacita Dean
dal 26/1/2001 al 25/3/2001
Segnalato da
26/1/2001
Tacita Dean
Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona MACBA, Barcelona
This exhibition presents a selection of nine filmic works shot in 16 mm., two sound pieces (one of which, Jukebox 2, is a new production), as well as drawings and photographs of several projects carried out by one of the most relevant artists of her generation, nominated for the prestigious British award, the Turner Prize.
This exhibition presents a selection of nine filmic works shot in 16 mm., two sound pieces (one of
which, Jukebox 2, is a new production), as well as drawings and photographs of several projects carried
out by one of the most relevant artists of her generation, nominated for the prestigious British award,
the Turner Prize. The work of Tacita Dean (Canterbury, 1965) mainly consists of 16 mm films and
soundworks in which process, transformation, coincidences, fact and fiction play an important role. Her
work involves forgotten stories and constructions that were built in a visionary way but which never
successfully functioned in society, which abandoned them to their fate.
Having started her artistic career as a painter, Dean discovered the possibilities of the projected images
of 16 mm film in the early 90s. By then many artists had adopted a handier, cheaper and more informal
medium: video. However, the 16 mm process allowed her to work more physically. Film technically
consists of two components, image and sound, which are recorded independently on a small piece of
celluloid. Scenes can only be shot in 2.5 to 10 minute sequences, which means editing afterwards. The
constant ritual 'cutting, pasting, rewinding, watching; cutting, pasting, rewinding, and so on' that
makes up the process of editing a film serves to make time look seamless. When the result is run
through the projector, between the lamp and sound bulb, we see and hear an amplified version of what
has been put together on this tiny strip of film.
Dean’s method of working is a very open one. She permits the element of chance to enter the process
of research, filming, recording and editing, opening up a channel for her work to flow through rather
than directing it from a strict, rigid concept. Coincidences thus have an important status as the concept
that forms the basis of the work.
In the presentation of her works, the physical presence of the projector, with its peculiar sound and
features, imports a sculptural element that she very much encourages. There is a tension between the
machine and what it does 'blowing up a series of tiny images into a flawless moving image with
sound' which adds to the magic of the work. Disappearance at Sea (Cinemascope) takes this
tension to extremes. Dean filmed a lighthouse at nightfall, when it becomes functional. In the last shot
the screen is dark, except for a moving spot of light touching the rocks and waves. With Jukebox 2
(2000), we can ‘travel’ through time and space by choosing one of the eight destinations and a
particular time (between midnight and midday) on the machine.
Curator: Roland Groenenboom
Exhibition produced by the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA)
Museum hours:
Daily: 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Closed on Tuesday
Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Sunday and holidays, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
MACBA - Plaza dels Angels 1 - Barcelona - Tel. (34) 934 120 810
Fax (34) 934 124 602