In 2011 Argentinean artist Rirkrit Tiravanija participated in the Venice Film Festival with his feature film Lung Neaw Visits his Neighbour...
In 2011 Argentinean artist Rirkrit Tiravanija participated in the Venice Film Festival with his feature film Lung Neaw Visits his Neighbour. Shown in the "Horizons" section, which focuses on documentary film and new trends in cinema, the film documents the life of 60-year-old Lung Neaw (Uncle Neaw) following his recent retirement from his life as a rice farmer. Set in Lung Neaw’s home, a small, quiet village in the Northern Thai Province of Chiang Mai, and miles from the political turmoil of Bangkok, the film is a slow, meditative piece, which seems to align itself with portraiture rather than documentation, and marks the artist’s recent move into the medium of film over the past decade.
Karl Holmqvist, the Berlin based artist and poet, is the latest subject to be documented by Tiravanija, and is the star of his new film, Untitled 2012 (a study for Karl's perfect day) or (the incomparable Karl Holmqvist), which is being exhibited at Pilar Corrias in London.
"...the lines between art and life are blurred beyond recognition, affording the viewer the opportunity to experience both simultaneously"
The film explores the life of the seemingly eccentric Holmqvist as he goes about his daily existence. Holmqvist’s own creative output, much like Tiravanija’s, is incredibly varied, and includes objects, books, lighting and wallpaper, as well as poetry and performance, all of which he creates in response to specific locations, situations or moments in life. In this film, as in Lung Neaw Visits his Neighbour, the artist uses the medium of film to capture what is real in the world around us.
Tiravanija’s work is often referred to in the context of relational art, in other words, it is concerned primarily with activities that allow viewers to relate to one another, rather than with object making. In this film, as in much of his artistic output, the lines between art and life are blurred beyond recognition, affording the viewer the opportunity to experience both simultaneously.
The exhibition runs until September 28 2012 at Pilar Corrias, London.
Text by Siobhan Andrews
