January 11–March 1, 2020
“This screening is presented in the context of Animistic Apparatus, a research and curatorial project initiated by May Adadol INGAWANIJ, where the concept of an animistic cinematic medium is proposed as a medium of cosmological entanglement and communication, and of deep time-space. The selection of recent moving image work by artists from Asia tell stories of relations between land, place, spirits, technology, and people. It sees nonhumans also as entities that embody history, speculate futures, and tell their own stories. Together these films question the assumption that humans are the only ones that remember, the only ones that imagine, and the only audience of cinema.” NTT InterCommunication Center, Tokyo
Animistic Apparatus: Cosmos is co-curated by May Adadol INGAWANIJ (Writer, Curator) [Thailand/UK] and Julian ROSS (Researcher, Curator) [Japan/UK/Netherlands]
Part of the exhibition Open Possibilities: There is not only one neat way to imagine our futures
Works
Bagasworo ARYANINGTYAS Bilal [Indonesia] 2006, 4min.
This video opens with a room inside a mosque while a traditional drum beat is heard. A man with a Mohawk hairstyle walks into frame. He then lip-syncs the Adhan, or the Muslim call to prayer, though the original audio actually comes from a TV.
Pathompon Mont TESPRATEEP Confusion Is Next [Thailand] 2018, 22min
A portrait of the nomadic musician Thom Assajan-Jakgawan, appearing as a fictionalized version of himself living in a fragile state and a collapsed country.
Raqs Media Collective The Blood of Stars [India] 2017, 13mins.
A conversation takes place between a girl and a woman about iron and how it connects our bodies to the earth and the cosmos.
Zai TANG Escape Velocity Ⅱ [Singapore] 2018, 10min.
Based on a series based on field recordings taken from 2013 to 2016 at three locations in Singapore. All of the sites—Bukit Brown Cemetery, MacRitchie Reservoir, and Rail Corridor—are rich in biodiversity but also under threat from urban development. Fascinated by interspecies communication and apprehensive about the relentless speed at which capitalism progresses, the artist created a sound composition by manipulating the recorded birdsong and calls of wildlife to match the hearing ability of humans.
Stephanie COMILANG Come to Me, Paradise [Canada] 2017, 25min.
Every Sunday in central Hong Kong a group of Filipino women domestic workers gather to socialize. The artist documents their activities and tells the story from the perspective of drone spirit Paraiso.