May 23, 8.30PM / Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb
Artists Cinema presents three films by American artist Gordon Matta-Clark (1943 – 1978): Conical Intersect (1975), Splitting (1974) and Bingo Ninths (1974) – a key to understanding the artist’s practice of “building cuts”, sculptural transformation of abandoned buildings, articulated as “anarchitecture”” and “non-u-ments.” Film works by Gordon Matta-Clark are in dialogue with urban planning and development, public art, its transformative potential and critical and social role. Term anarchitecture coined by Matta-Clark, a combination of architecture and anarchy, refers to “a mental battle with the discourse of architecture,” a radical act of destruction / deconstruction of architectural structure.
Three films approach the issues of deconstruction and intervening in buildings scheduled for demolition. Splitting is the first “cutting” while Conical Intersect represent a documentation of a cutting performed for the Paris Biennale in 1975, in the urban fabric of Paris, near the constriction site of Centre Georges Pompidou, while the process of work is inspired by “expanded cinema”, one of the first abstract film installation with projector – Line Describing a Cone by Anthony McCall.
On this occasion Artists’ Cinema becomes a cinematic installation which exposes the film apparatus (screen and projector),while films by Gordon Matta-Clark engage into dialogue with the building of the Museum of Contemporary Art.
Program
Conical intersect, 1975 / 16 mm / 19′ 00
Splitting + Bingo ninths, 1974 / 16 mm / 24′ 00
ARTISTS’ CINEMA is a program activity of the Museum of Contemporary Art established in 2012, aimed at introducing contemporary artists and their cinematic works, created at the meeting point of contemporary art and cinema, of film and visual arts. The program presents recent film/video works outside the context of production of entertainment and spectacle as well as historical perspectives and developments. It completes the programmatic conception of the Museum and complement the presentation of this hybrid form. It will intensify the dialog and exchange on the cultural scene of the city, connecting artists, curators, and critics with the public; in this way we will contribute to an active internationalization of the art scene engaged in the media of moving images.
Project Manager: Tihomir Milovac / Curator: Branka Benčić