film

Venice Biennale 2017 – Jessica Voorsanger’s film Klingon Key Phrases included

EMPIRE II

La Biennale di Venezia 2017

13TH MAY – 26TH NOV 2017

CASTELLO 1610/A
RIVA DEI SETTE MARTIRI VENEZIA 3012

140 SHORT FILMS > 140 ARTISTS

Gavin Turk, Jessica Voorsanger, Sarah Sparkes, Fiona Banner, Cedric Christie, John Plowman, Spizz Energi, Lee Maelzer, Danny Pockets, Martin Creed, Ray Gange, Sarah Pager, Toni Gallagher, Jake & Dinos Chapman, Liz Sheridan, Julian Firth, Geraldine Swayne, SHUBY, Rebecca Scott, Pascal Rousson, Kerry Baldry Graham Tunnadine, Lauren Heckler and many more.

Empire II is an artist led project designed for forthcoming 57th La Biennale di Venezia.

Empire II are focused on creating a dedicated cinema hub space for artists and makers which will contain 3 separate areas and remain functional over a designated period of 7 months.

Room 1; Lounge/library as a quiet ambient reading area and a chill out zone + Room 2; movie screening space playing a selection of short art house lms specially created for this occasion and programmed on a continuous loop + Room 3; an immersive VR gaming space evolving as a spontaneous separate augmented reality point.

Exhibition will follow with a 160 page limited edition catalogue. We will host a number of intermediate events during our stay with and including participating artists and makers in form of presentations, talks and group discussions related to  making and associated topics.

Secrets & Lies (TATE Film Club)

Secrets & Lies

Tate Modern has had a long running film club, which over the past 10 years (+) has successfully explored themes surrounding London and its environs in relation to Tate. Initially created as a way to interact positively with the community, the group’s success has grown in audience and subject. As Tate embarks on a ‘new’ Tate with the opening of the extension in May 2016 this is the opportunity for the film club to also reinvent itself. For this initial start to the new season of film club viewings – Jessica Voorsanger has been commissioned to show 3 interlinked immersive film events exploring artists and their lives through the film sub genre of ‘docudramas’ also known as ‘biopics.’ Focusing on artists that have either shown or are in the collection of Tate. This will mark the bringing together of Tate Modern’s Film Club and Tate Britain’s Soapbox to work together to co-create events that engage with film (and their audiences) in alternative ways.

The 3 events will explore the ideas surrounding Secrets & Lies (the title being a reference to the Mike Leigh film of the same name). There will be 3 events (27 March, 22 May & 31 July 2017). These events will each explore the concept of the life (and/or culture) of one/or many artist(s) in three distinct ways. As through storytelling, especially within a ‘Hollywood’ drama scenario, the question of how much is actually true in the depiction of real life? Is anything exaggerated to make the story more engaging? As with documentaries, which we generally view as ‘truth’ can give a biased view of the director through the selection of interviewees and editing.

The1st event featured Frida Kahlo. The Salma Hayek film ‘Frida’ was aired. Aside from the film showing there was a quiz with questions associated with Frida Kahlo. The audience members were each given a ‘lucky bag’ which comprised of the elements to ‘dress up as Frida’ and a bespoke newspaper for the event. This first event was focussing on the ‘biopic’.

           

The 2nd event featured Pablo Picasso. The were three films aired: ‘Trimming Picasso’ (a docudrama by filmmaker Tim Newton), ‘Meeting Picasso’ (a documentary by filmmaker Tim Newton), and ‘Surviving Picasso’ (a docudrama starring Anthony Hopkins, the full feature was not aired). Aside from the films being shown there was an ‘In conversation’ between the filmmaker Tim Newton and Jessica Voorsanger. There was a quiz with questions associated with Frida Kahlo. The audience members were each given a ‘lucky bag’ which comprised of the elements to ‘dress up as a Picasso Cubist painting’ and a bespoke newspaper for the event. This second event was focussing on the differences between the biopic and the documentary.

The 3rd event will feature Peggy Guggenheim. The documentary ‘Peggy Guggenheim” Art Addict ‘will be shown. The focus of this event will be on documentaries. This event will take place in late July 2017.