Nottingham Contemporary

About the works:

Larry Achiampong & David Blandy, Finding Fanon Part Three
Finding Fanon Part Three is a story based on the collaboration of writers Sartre and Fanon and their recognition of the problems and pain caused by the economically and politically powerful on the less privileged, particularly, of the colonised. It is a meditative cinematic portrayal on the fragility of friendships and brings the story of Fanon and Sartre’s collaboration to life. The two characters are on a journey on foot with their children. As the hours progress and the landscape evolves, the families move through a range of subtle emotions, enacting a pilgrimage of mutual confusion, sudden insight and recurring intimations of a larger battle, eventually arriving at their final destination, a shelter made deep in the woods.

Jasmina Cibic, NADA: Act III - The Exhibition
Composed of quotes drawn from political discussions on German national representation at World Expositions in 1929, 1937, 1958 and their legacy, The Exhibition creates an original conversation between three allegorical positions. The Curator, the Artist and Germania become a reflection of ideological deliberation facing a practical problem: how to create an exhibition of best national art that will win over international audiences. Whilst engaging in the discussion, the women work on the artefacts and their display: they are sculpting, polishing, curating and destroying physical manifestations of their words. Filmed within Haus Esters and Lange that Ludwig Mies van der Rohe built for the German silk barons in 1920s, The Exhibition uses the architecture which itself served as soft power realised.

Lawrence Lek, Geomancer, Chapters 1 and 2
Geomancer is a computer-generated film by Lawrence Lek about the creative awakening of artificial intelligence. On the eve of Singapore's 2065 Centennial, an adolescent satellite AI escapes its imminent demise by coming down to Earth, hoping to fulfil its dream of becoming the first AI artist. Part philosophical reflection of where 'genius' resides, Geomancer also summons up the spirit of our rapidly dawning age - one whose characteristics include the growing ascendancy of the cultural phenomenon of Sino-Futurism. Composed using high-definition video game graphics, a neural network-generated dream sequence, and a synthesised vocal soundtrack, Geomancer explores the implications of post-human consciousness. Here we see the first two chapters of the work.

Daria Martin, A Hunger Artist
A Hunger Artist adapts Kafka's 1924 short story, an ambiguous allegory about spectacle and spectators; power, narcissism, and resistance. A public showman fasts for years to wide adulation, until his craft goes out of style. He is left to perform for unappreciative spectators and, ultimately, to barely please only himself, unto death. The film highlights the contradictory human experience of our bodies as both 'objects' and 'subjects.'

Hardeep Pandhal, Pool Party Pilot Episode
Pool Party Pilot Episode shows a speculative vision taking cues from Charlotte Perkins Gilman's novel Herland and Elaine Morgan's aquatic ape hypothesis, particularly parts where the authors describe male fears of their surroundings. Herland describes the encounter of three men with an isolated society composed entirely of women, who reproduce via parthenogenesis. The aquatic ape hypothesis aims to redress traditional evolutionary theories by focusing on the evolution of female bodies.

Margaret Salmon, Eglantine Extract
An intimate and vivid account of a young girl’s real and fantastical adventure in a remote forest one evening. A loving homage to classic children’s films such as Ray Ashley’s 'Little Fugitive', Jean Renoir’s 'The River' and Albert Lamorisse’s 'The Red Balloon', but draws from nature studies of the past, such as Mary Field’s 'Secrets of Nature' series. Shot on 35mm in various locations around Scotland, Salmon draws inspiration from a range of cinematic movements as well as wildlife documentaries to produce a lyrical and sensual portrait of a child’s eye perspective on the natural world. Here we see an extract of the work.