This installation presents a single dramatic narrative situated against the backdrop of a modernistic and very luxurious villa. The basic story of love and betrayal (loosely based on Jean-Luc Godard’s Le Mépris) is repeated over and over again, yet in each successive episode the time of day corresponds to the actual viewing time. Filmed using only natural light and covering the entire course of one day, it is the changing quality of light and shade, and the sound of the buildings natural setting, that subtly develops. Set at OMA/Rem Koolhaas’ Maison à Bordeaux and structured by the time of the sun, the human drama appears increasingly banal, even absurd. Claerbout uses the complex building as a light machine: the three levels, diverse framed views, and levels of transparency achieve an increasingly psychological presence. |
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Two separate soundtracks concentrate the disjunction between natural and human narratives. The ambient sound of nature at the various times of day is broadcast from speakers on the floor, while the dialogue is heard only through headphones - delineating two distinct temporal worlds. A contemplative piece about the substance of time, reversing the usual hierarchy between background and foreground, and subverting the languages of cinema and architecture. Bordeaux Piece, like its architectural counterpart, and like cinema itself, acts like a frame for the passage of time using natural light. |
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Installation in the Filmmuseum expo room
Belgium 2004, 13 hours 43 mins
Single channel wide screen video projection
Colour
stereo over headphones and speakers
Artist
David Claerbout (Kortrijk 1969) is a contemporary Belgian artist whose conceptual works often involve issues at the meeting point between various media. Known for his large-scale installations combining still photography and film, Claerbout has exhibited in numerous group and solo exhibitions internationally. He was a DAAD Berlin Fellow in 2002-2003, and received the Flanders Culture Prize in Visual Art in 2007. In 2007-2008, Claerbout was the focus of a comprehensive solo exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris.
The installation can be seen from 29 May - 10 June, 1 pm – 9.30 pm daily; from 11 - 14 June, 11 am - 9.30 pm daily. Admission free. |