16 Nov 2012

Blood Mountain presents new works by The Otolith Group

Blood Mountain is pleased to announce the screening of two new works by The Otolith Group, which completes the collective's 2012 artist-in-residence programme at Blood Mountain.

In February 2012 The Otolith Group undertook Blood Mountain's residency programme, which comprised extensive research and a comprehensive public programme organised in partnership with tranzit. hu. In this capacity, Central European audiences were able to view 'The Otolith Trilogy' (2003, 2007, 2009) in discussion with the artist-collective, experience 'Anathema' (2011) in performance and take part in tranzit. hu's Free School for Art Theory and Practice programme. The creative output of The Otolith Group's sojourn in Budapest contributed to the production of two new artworks. Blood Mountain's mission is to present these works for the first time to local audiences.

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'The Radiant', 2012
HD video, colour, sound, 64 min 14 sec

The Radiant explores the aftermath of March 11, 2011, when the Great Tohoku Earthquake struck the North East Coast of Japan at 2.46pm, triggering a tsunami that killed tens of thousands and causing the partial meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. In the fissures opened by these catastrophes, The Radiant travels through time and space, invoking the historical promise of nuclear energy and summoning the future threat of radiation that converge upon the benighted present. Under these conditions, the illuminated cities and evacuated villages of Japan can be understood as a laboratory for the global nuclear regime that exposes its citizens to the necro-politics of radiation.

The work incorporates original footage from socialist era propaganda films found in the Open Society Archives' 'Paranoia Archive Collection'.

Commissioned by dOCUMENTA (13) in Kassel. Executive Producer: Foundation for the Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona with support from Project 88 in Mumbai, Zavod Projekt Atol in Ljubljana, Open Society Archives in Budapest and Blood Mountain Foundation.

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'I See Infinite Distance Between Any Point and Another', 2012
HD video, colour, sound (stereo), 33 min 32 sec

Etel Adnan's highly influential writings, in French, English and Arabic have been read around the world. Her recent book, 'Sea and Fog' evokes the sea as a metaphor for power, exploring the nature of the individual spirit and the individual spiritedness of the natural world.

The Otolith Group's new film is made largely in Adnan's Paris apartment and centres on a reading of her poem, 'Sea' (2011), which draws upon philosophy to meditate on matter and anti-matter. The sound of Adnan's voice, and the quiet but ever present ambient noise in her apartment, create a film with a powerful, meditative atmosphere, that speaks of the mobility of thought and the movement of the ocean. Sea draws upon the powers of philosophy to pursue the continuous mutation of matter into velocity. If poetry can be understood as a study in constraint, 'I See Infinite Distance Between Any Point and Another' can be understood as an experiment in concentration that speaks of the mobility of thought and the movement of the ocean. ' See Infinite Distance Between Any Point and Another' (2012) might be understood as a study in gestures, following from Hydra Decapita (2010), in The Otolith Group's trilogy of works on hydro-politics and hydro-aesthetics.

The work incorporates original footage shot in Budapest with the assistance of Réka Pigniczky (Blood Mountain trustee and documentary filmmaker, 56Films) and Gergõ Kiss (cameraman). Co-produced by Blood Mountain.

Executive producer: Foundation for the Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona with support from Blast Theory, Fabrica, Lighthouse, Photoworks, Faculty of Arts University of Brighton UK, Blood Mountain Foundation in Budapest and Project 88 in Mumbai.


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Notes
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The Otolith Group (est. 2002 by Anjalika Sagar and Kodwo Eshun) is an award-winning artist-led collective. Its name refers to the calcium carbonate microcrystal within the inner ear that plays an important role in maintaining bodily orientation and verticality. Working in video and film, The Group provides a platform for close readings of the image in contemporary culture. The Group works with media archives, histories of futurity and the legacies of non-alignment and tri-continentalism. The Group's output also extends to writing, curating, and publishing. Their work includes Communists Like Us, 2006- 2010 (three screen performance, two-channel video and single channel video), 'Inner Time of Television', 2007 (collaborative installation with Chris Marker), 'The Otolith Trilogy', 2003-2009 (video), 'The Ghost of Songs: The Film Art of the Black Audio Film Collective', 2007 (exhibition and publication), 'Nervus Rerum', 2008 (video), 'Harun Farocki 22 Films: 1968-2009', 2009 (exhibition), 'Hydra Decapita', 2010 (video) and 'Anathema', 2011 (video). In 2010, The Group was nominated for The Turner Prize, Britain's most prestigious contemporary art award. Solo exhibitions include Westfailure, Project 88, Mumbai (2011), A Lure a part Allure Apart, Betonsalon, Paris (2011) Thoughtform, MACBA, Barcelona, MAXXI, Rome (2010-11) and A Long Time Between Suns Parts I and II, Gasworks and The Showroom, London (2009). Group exhibitions include dOCUMENTA 13 (2012), The British Art Show (2010), 29th Sao Paulo Biennale (2010), Manifesta 8 (2009) and Tate Triennale (2006). Videos by The Group can be viewed via LUX (lux.org.uk), Europe's leading resource for artists-made films and videos. Blood Mountain's residency programme in February 2012 provides the first opportunity for the collective to visit, work and enage with an audience in Central Europe. otolithgroup.org

tranzit .hu (est. 2002, directed by Dóra Hegyi) is the Budapest chapter of the Central European curatorial network, tranzit.org: a dynamic, inter-disciplinary platform supporting process-oriented, innovative and experimental projects. With affiliations in Bucharest, Bratislava, Prague and Vienna, the Budapest-based tranzit. hu champions art and ideas which are elsewhere under-represented and excluded for reasons of content, trend or taste. It provides an anarchic safe-place for 'mistakes' and 'flaws' to flourish through mediation; enabling culture to be produced, not simply perceived, and values to be continually challenged and redefined. tranzit. hu believes that open thinking and exchange can lead to responsible critical and experimental attitude in contemporary life. Since 2006 the Free School for Art Theory and Practice programme supports the theoretical and practical development of the local arts scene through public events and invited seminars with leading international theoreticians and artists. The programme hinges on the belief that artistic and curatorial thinking create a surplus of knowledge and can benefit social discourse and contemporary life. Previous Free School participants include Jens Hoffmann (2006), Ulay (2007) and Ute Meta Bauer (2009). hu.tranzit.org

Open Society Archives (est. 1995, directed by Prof. István Rév) is an archival laboratory located at Budapest's Central European University. While actively collecting, preserving, and making openly accessible documents related to recent history and human rights, it also experiments with new ways to contextualize primary sources, developing innovative tools to explore, represent, or bridge traditional archival collections in a digital environment. OSA Archivum's approach to acquisition is increasingly proactive and inclusive in pursuing non traditional material, material previously marginalized based on its content, social origin, or form. At OSA Archivum, professional archival work is integrated with public programs, and its Galeria Centralis serves as the focal point of exhibitions, performances, film screenings, lectures, and seminars. Through all of these endeavors, the organisation advocates open access and transparency in public administration; equal rights to information; the ethical use of private data; open formats and open standards; and broad access to cultural heritage. osaarchivum.org

Blood Mountain Foundation (est. 2010 by Jade Niklai and Tom Sloan) is an independent non-profit arts organisation working at the junction of contemporary critical thought and creative practice. Based in Budapest, our mission is to generate fresh discourse and to encourage the production of new work through curatorial and educational programmes, publications, artists-in-residence, public events and cross-disciplinary projects. Central to our objective is the belief that culture is an agent for social change and its open discourse and unrestricted practice are fundamental to the life of a participatory democracy. The residency programme provides two emerging to mid-career international artists at a critical stage of their practice to reside at Blood Mountain to develop new work inspired by Hungary's rich cultural heritage. Participants to date: Diango Hernández, Asim Memishi, The Otolith Group, Fritz Haeg. bloodmountain.org

Address: Vérhalom utca 27/c, Budapest 1025, Hungary l +36.30.415.2123 l +36.1.326.1844 l info@bloodmountain.org

Public Transport: take bus 91/191/291 to 'Vérhalom utca' stop (4th in Buda) and walk 5 minutes, or walk 15 minutes from 4/6 tram stop at Margaret Bridge (Buda side).

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For images and other requests, please contact
Jade Niklai, Director: jade@bloodmountain.org | +36.30.415.2123
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