Visual Art
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‘IT’S A REALLY INSPIRING TIME FOR FILM AND VIDEO IN SCOTLAND’ Hitlist THE BEST EXHIBITIONS *
Luke Fowler, ‘The Way Out’
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World in motion
Liz Shannon talks to the curator of Running Time about the task of assembling a major exhibition of films by some of Scotland’s best-known artists
‘I t’s a really inspiring time for film and video activity in Scotland,’ says Rosie Lesso, one of the curators of Running Time, a major survey exhibition of artist films in Scotland. ‘We’ve got some fantastic material.’
The show features films by international art stars such as Douglas Gordon, works by influential yet less widely known names from the 1960s and 70s and contemporary up-and-comers. ‘A lot of the artists studied here or are based in Scotland,’ says Lesso. ‘Some have connections to Scotland or have created films with strong links to Scottish history.’ This inclusive approach, along with the sheer quantity of interesting material discovered during months of archival research, has resulted in an exhibition that may well gain a reputation as a landmark show.
Over 100 single screen film and video works by 60 artists will be shown on the upper floor of the Dean Gallery over five weeks. Those already feeling overwhelmed by the prospect, can breathe easy, as Lesso explains. ‘We discovered a huge array of material while we were researching and wanted to show the range of work, so we broke the programme up into five sections – there’s a different theme every week.’
Each theme is designed to draw parallels between different generations of artists and to highlight common interests. ‘Portraits in Action’ focuses on performative work; ‘Places in Time’ looks at artists’ manipulation of the documentary genre; the films in ‘Drama and Suspense’ are often tense and uncanny, subverting cinematic narrative conventions; ‘Sound and Vision’ notes experimental music’s influence on film; while the selection for ‘Form in Motion’ features seminal works
from the 1970s that deal with film’s formal conventions. Repeat visits to the exhibition are definitely encouraged. Lesso says: ‘We hope that it has quite a film festival feel. Each room is being treated as a separate screening room, like a cinema. Some of the works are more normally seen in a cinema than in a gallery context, but these boundaries are more blurred than in the past.’ Many of Scotland’s film archives have come up with gold for the exhibition. ‘A lot of the video work has come from the Rewind Archive in Dundee,’ says Lesso. ‘We got some really great material there, including David Hall’s ‘TV Interruptions’. It’s seven very short films that were just dropped into Scottish TV’s normal programming, completely unannounced. You just wouldn’t get away with that now.’
Far from being oblivious to what’s gone before, Lesso asserts that many of the contemporary artists included in the show are aware of, and influenced by, the experimental work that preceded their own, such as that by Margaret Tait. With films by Luke Fowler, Katy Dove, Mark Neville, Henry Coombes, Film Festival prize-winner Matt Hulse and a specially commissioned piece by Torsten Lauschmann, Running Time offers a unique chance to see just why film and video have become such staples of many contemporary artists’ repertoires, and to see works by the experimental pioneers that continue to exert an influence. Just remember to leave the popcorn at home.
Running Time – Artist Films in Scotland: 1960 to Now, Dean Gallery, Edinburgh, Sat 17 Oct–Sun 22 Nov.
✽✽ The Discovery of Spain Only a few days left to catch this marvellous exhibition exploring the relationship between Spanish innovators, from Goya to Picasso, and the British artists they influenced. National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, until Sun 11 Oct. ✽✽ Henry Coombes: The Bedfords Coombes’ compelling film tells the story of Victorian portrait painter Sir Edward Landseer, and is set to music from Cleveland Watkiss. Sorcha Dallas, Glasgow, until Fri 9 Oct. ✽✽ Eva Hesse: Studiowork The work of the late German sculptor is considered in its historical context. Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, until Sun 25 Oct. ✽✽ Thomas Hirschhorn: It’s Burning Everywhere The renowned Swiss artist brings his unique vision to DCA as part of the gallery’s tenth birthday celebrations. Dundee Contemporary Arts, until Sun 29 Nov. ✽✽ Bik Van Der Pol The latest collaboration between artists Liesbeth Bik and Jos Van der Pol, following a two- month residency at Cove Park, explores the potential of art to transmit knowledge. Reviewed next issue. CCA, Glasgow, Sat 10 Oct–Sat 21 Nov. ✽✽ David Austen A selection of new prints from the British artist. Reviewed next issue. Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh, Sat 10 Oct–Sat 14 Nov. ✽✽ Running Time The National Galleries assembles an ambitious showcase of artist films by various well- known artists. See preview, left. Dean Gallery, Edinburgh, Sat 17 Oct-Sun 22 Nov. 8–22 Oct 2009 THE LIST 89