"Reel Sculpture: Film into Art"
2003-04-05 until 2003-08-03
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
San Francisco, CA, USA

From April 5 to August 3, 2003 the San Francisco Museum of Art (SFMOMA) will present Reel Sculpture: Film into Art. Organized by Benjamin Weil, SFMOMA curator of media arts, this exhibition emphasizes the viewer’s physical relationship with the projected image and explores the possibilities for nonlinear and seamless narratives in film and video. The exhibition features installations by international filmmakers Eija-Liisa Ahtila, Atom Eyogan and Abbas Kiarostami.

Finnish director Eija-Liisa Ahtila describes her work The Present as a “human drama”. The installation consists of five monitors running loops of stories that expose moments of psychological instability in the lives of five female protagonists. Ahtila’s stories shift between the past and the present without having to rely on the typical cinematic “flashback” technique, creating a nonlinear narrative. An underlying theme of forgiveness is revealed after each short story with the words: “Give Yourself a Present; Forgive Yourself”. The Present was shown recently in 2002 at the Tate Modern and at the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki.

Atom Egoyan’s Close, a collaborative work with visual artist Juliao Sarmento, premiered at the 2001 Biennale di Venezia. The viewer experiences the video in close physical proximity to the screen in a narrow corridor. The projected image amplifies feet, hands and freshly clipped crescent-shaped toenails as, one by one, they fall delicately onto a woman’s tongue. Atom Egoyan is an Egyptian-born Canadian filmmaker who began to explore the art and language of cinema while studying in Toronto. Egoyans films delve into issues of intimacy and displacement along with examining the impact of technology and media on society. Sleepers, by renowned Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami was also shown at the 2001 Biennale di Venezia. It portrays a life-sized sleeping couple projected on the floor. The projection relies on a soundtrack of street noises that causes certain occurrences to take place within the couple’s dreams. Abbas Kiarostami was the recipient of the San Francisco Film Society’s prestigious Akira Kurosawa Award in 2000. Sleepers is a part of the SFMOMA Media Arts permanent collection.

IMAGE:
Abbas Kiarostami
Sleepers, 2001
single channel video (DVD)
Collection SFMOMA, gift of Carla Emil and Rich Silverstein

Related Links:

Indepth Arts Resources for the State of California

Other Important Exhibitions in United States