translated and summarized by: Liz Wollner-Grandville,
020608: MUMOK-Museum moderner Kunst: Runa Islam – Empty the pond and get the fish
MUMOK-Museum moderner Kunst: Runa Islam – Empty the pond and get the fish
We live on dead fish
With the first motion picture , perfect illusion came to being. Time could be ‘caught’ by an apparatus and the elapsed time could be shown over and over again. Keep everything moving – until artists like Runa Islam dealt with this illusion – by means of the media of film.
Her three movies currently shown at the MUMOK range from a documentary, a cinematic analysis of an empty building to a drama with the title “Be The First To See What You See As You See It.” The drama begins with an intent view on seemingly precious porcelain, and then develops into a sensuous touch. (And as if this tenderness crosses the border, which only permits loving proximity to be observed at a distance), Runa Islam lets the viewer watch how the porcelain falls to the floor in slow motion and break into hundreds of pieces. The technical process of the film re-translates the story of the woman and her dishes – after all: film also cuts reality into fragments. However, the film in the form of dishes can never be assembled again without noticing the difference – something even super-glue could not accomplish. Goodbye, beautiful illusion.
In the third picture, a camera is shifted as if one would be writing with it: like a pen the camera writes a message in the form of a film. The camera slips the world a text about the world, which in turn originated in a different world. But one could not accuse Runa Islam of mixing up the facts - reality is probably always being planted everywhere. The title “Empty The Pond To Get The Fish” refers to a fishing-method, but to Runa it is also a description of how a film is produced: emptying the water out of pond, until only dead fish, dead pieces of reality are left over. Gruesome. Tragic. But if we reach out to fish in the first place, don’t we mainly live on dead fish?
MUMOK – Museum moderner Kunst
1070 Vienna, Museumsquartier until 13. 07. 2008
www.mumok.at
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020608
mumok - Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien
1070 Wien, Museumsquartier, Museumsplatz 1
Tel: +43 1 52 500, Fax: +43 1 52 500 13 00
Email: info@mumok.at
http://www.mumok.at
Öffnungszeiten: Täglich: 10.00–18.00 Uhr, Do: 10.00–21.00 Uhr
mumok - Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien
1070 Wien, Museumsquartier, Museumsplatz 1
Tel: +43 1 52 500, Fax: +43 1 52 500 13 00
Email: info@mumok.at
http://www.mumok.at
Öffnungszeiten: Täglich: 10.00–18.00 Uhr, Do: 10.00–21.00 Uhr