A WAKE, MOMENTUM, BERLIN
Oct 17, 2011 by
, Digital Media, 2011 Just in time for All Hallows’ Eve, is A Wake: Still Lives and Moving Images, opens at Momentum/Berlin, October 29th, 2011. The exhibition will feature photographic stills, video and cinematic films all in acknowledgement of the Day of the Dead. The Mayan Calendar predicts that the world will end October 28th, of this year. A Wake, lends itself as an offering of sorts, welcoming the dead to walk amongst the living. It revolves around myth and mysticism. Tracey Moffatt: DOOMED, Installation view, 2007 courtesy of Roslyn Oxley9 The title is an obvious play on words referencing both to be awake and to attend a wake. In America, the ritual of having a traditional wake, which historically is a time for mourners to view the dead for three days before burial, is becoming less and less common. The ceremony was originally held in the home, the body exposed for all to see. Stories were told to me as a young child by my grandmother, whispering, as she remembered her deceased Uncle Harry, laid out in the spare bedroom of their home. The family both mourned and celebrated, alcohol flowing and igniting rosy cheeks. Paul […]</p>
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Stephan Halter, Schlaflied (screenshot), Digital Media, 2011
Just in time for All Hallows’ Eve, is A Wake: Still Lives and Moving Images, opens at Momentum/Berlin, October 29th, 2011. The exhibition will feature photographic stills, video and cinematic films all in acknowledgement of the Day of the Dead. The Mayan Calendar predicts that the world will end October 28th, of this year. A Wake, lends itself as an offering of sorts, welcoming the dead to walk amongst the living. It revolves around myth and mysticism.
Tracey Moffatt: DOOMED, Installation view, 2007
courtesy of Roslyn Oxley9
The title is an obvious play on words referencing both to be awake and to attend a wake. In America, the ritual of having a traditional wake, which historically is a time for mourners to view the dead for three days before burial, is becoming less and less common. The ceremony was originally held in the home, the body exposed for all to see. Stories were told to me as a young child by my grandmother, whispering, as she remembered her deceased Uncle Harry, laid out in the spare bedroom of their home. The family both mourned and celebrated, alcohol flowing and igniting rosy cheeks.
Paul Rascheja, Crash (still), Digital Media, 2009
In a cavern of screens, the viewers of A Wake will have the opportunity to walk through a maze of images, flashing and lighting the otherwise darkened gallery. However as a traditional wake, the exhibition invites viewers to both celebrate and mourn. Images of spirits and veiled ghosts intend not only to reflect upon the past but inform our current state both politically and apropos of journalistic media, news and social networking sites that thrust forth the sensationalism of death.
Polynoid, Loom (still), Digital Animation, 2010
The exhibition will be held in an old infirmary inside of the former cloisters of Bethanien House (Kunstlerhaus Bethanien) Kreuzberg, Berlin. From the Press Release:
In this city responsible for making so many ghosts, and through the translucent veil of time-based media, past, present and future meld into one in this metaphysical meditation on the passing of being into representation.
A Wake: Still Lives and Moving Images will feature an international roster of artists including: Tracey Moffatt, Fiona Pardington, AES+F, Annika Eriksson, Stephan Halter, Betty Leirner, Osvaldo Budet, Jarik Jongman, Yishay Garbasz and Nikola Lutz, Polynoid, Jan Svankmajer, Paul Rascheja, Anna Bella Geiger, David Medalla, and Alain Resnais.
Curated by Director Rachel Rits-Volloch, Adam Nankervis and Leo Kuelbs, Momentum/Berlin explores what happens when time runs out.
On-viewOctober 30th through November 13th, 2011
Preview Party: October 29th: 19.00
M o m e n t u m
Kunstquartier Bethanien, 134
If that is to say, the Mayan Calendar is not correct….
More soon!
xo