Captives

In her audio-visual installation, Dea Kulumbegashvili invites the audience to enter the deeply intimate space of an on-screen character. The visitor is enveloped in a sound experience that creates a ‘universe’ under the unstable aluminium floor and behind the walls. With every step, the viewer becomes a part of the work, blurring the line between spectating and participating, and between the physical space and the space of the creature. 

In the isolated room, Kulumbegashvili examines the act of looking that emerges between the viewer in the physical gallery space and the presence of the ‘other’ on the screen. Where do you look when you're being watched? The moving soundtrack made by Nicolás Jaar (whom Kulumbegashvili joined at a Big Talk during IFFR 2021) in collaboration with Pantxo Bertin plays a role arguably as essential as the visuals. Captives encourages us to think about subtle nuances in the notions of presence and existence in physical and intangible forms, thereby aiming to question the meaning of representation, and the relationship and connection between the human and non-human. The work is the latest addition to Vive le Cinéma, previously part of IFFR in collaboration with Eye Filmmuseum.

– Eva Langerak

Thu 26-1 to Sat 4-2, S/ash Gallery

Free admission, no reservation required

HD video, sound, color, 4'. Stainless steel floor, transducers, contact microphones, soundscape, tactile sound experience.
In collaboration with Pantxo Bertin and Nicolas Jaar
This work has been commissioned Tabakalera and produced by Tabakalera, David Zerat, Ilan Amouyal and Anna Gurgenidze.