Eight Chapters in Four Movements
Teresa Cos
Since 2013, CINEMATEK has been defending the exceptional and unique oeuvre of Chinese documentary filmmaker Wang Bing. In December, we will show his latest film, Dead Souls (2018), which was also presented in Cannes. At the same time, in KANAL-Centre Pompidou we present Wang’s Mi Niang, a film produced by CINEMATEK, that is shown for the first (and only) time. There, it enters into a dialogue with Eight Chapters in Four Movements by Italian artist Teresa Cos: a confrontation of two temporal experiences.
Eight Chapters in Four Movements is a performance transposed into video. London Bridge is crossed every morning at the same time by thousands of commuters forming a river moving unidirectionally South to North. The artist Teresa Cos observed for some time this phenomenon and calculated with rough mathematics the average pace of the commuters, which resulted of 113 BPM. She decided to impersonate this rhythm, walking robotically in the crowd following the beat of a metronome, but developing four movements that engage and disrupt the linear conception of time embodied by the flow. The movements are intended as four different stages of a ritual and are repeated constantly from 8am to 9am.
CINEMATEK has been a leading force for 80 years in providing daily explorations through the history of cinema. From the beginning, the approach has been wider than just a historical perspective, also reflecting the relationship contemporary, visual and performance arts have with the moving image. Through festivals and film-cycles CINEMATEK presents the works of the avant-garde, showcasing artists bringing together different disciplines and pushing the language of film. It was no surprise that the CINEMATEK accepted the Kanal Foundation's invitation for them to join forces.
Working in dialogue with Argos, Centre for Art and Media and collaborating with the Centre Pompidou Experimental Film Department SHOWroom CINEMATEK daily screens the work of contemporary filmmakers shown in a continuous digital program. Once a month the showroom will also host a special event, SWEET 16, paying tribute to 16mm film.
Eight Chapters in Four Movements
Teresa Cos
Italy, 2015
Color - 63’11’’ - English Version