To mark the closing of the exhibition Second Hand, currently on show in galleries 1-3, a selection of films curated in conjunction with the exhibition will be re-screened on 23 November, 2019. The selection explores materiality in artist’s film practices, including animation, text-based web practices and documentary, and features films by Liliana Porter, Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries, Munem Wasif, U-ra-mi-li Project and Prabhakar Pachpute.

Liliana Porter, Actualidades/Breaking News (2016, 22 mins). Courtesy of the artist and Ruth Benzacar Art Gallery.

Liliana Porter (b.1941 Buenos Aires, Argentina) playfully subverts convention, disrupts time, and messes with reality in her photography, video, prints and drawings. Each scene in Actualidades /Breaking News is structured as if it were a section in a newspaper, including ‘classifieds’, ‘art and leisure’, ‘fashion and style’ and ‘world news’. Each scenario becomes an evocative portrayal of the absurdities and tragedies perpetuated by a cast of characters comprised of inanimate toys and other mass-produced objects the artist finds in flea markets and antique stores.

Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries, The Art of Sleep (2006, 18mins). Courtesy of the artists.

Based in South Korea, Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries consists of artists Young-hae Chang and Marc Vog. They have been collaborating since 1999, and create Flash-based animations, a medium typically used for the web. Their animations portray playful narratives in the form of concrete poetry, depicting animated black text against a white background, synchronised to jazz and percussion music. The Art of Sleep explores the international contemporary art market from the artists’ perspective.

Munem Wasif, Kheyal (2015-18, 23 mins). Courtesy of the artist and Project 88.

Munem Wasif (b.1983, Dhaka, Bangladesh) takes a documentary-like approach to photography and video, addressing politically and geographically complex issues. Kheyal follows four characters through the streets of Old Dhaka in Bangladesh. The title is derived from the Arabic word ‘Khyal’ or ‘Khayal’, meaning fiction or imagination, and the film captures the enigmatic environments and unique identities; shifting between real and imagined narratives, navigating between the conscious and subconscious, and reveals the very different rhythm of life that inhabits the historic city. Living amid the grandeur of neglected Mughal architecture are dynamic social groups and spontaneous neighbourhoods that inhabit spaces around courtyards, narrow lanes and bustling bazaars.

u-ra-mi-li project, Open Ground (2016, 16 mins). Courtesy of the artists.

U-ra-mi-li Project is a collective based in India comprised of Anushka Meenakshi and Iswar Srikumar. They look at the rhythms and music of the everyday through sound, film, and performance, taking a special interest in the connections between music and labour. Open Ground explores the changing coal mining community in the Indian state of Maharashtra, including Sasti, Gouri, Pauni and Chandrapur.

Prabhakar Pachpute, Earthwork of Hadsati (2013, 3 mins) and Dark Cloud of the Future (2014, 3 mins). Courtesy of the artist.

Prabhakar Pachpute (b. 1986, Chandrapur, India) is known for his large scale installations using charcoal drawings and sculptural forms, as well as stop-motion animations created by drawing. Paying tribute to his family who worked in the coal mines in India, Pachpute uses coal as an interrogation of hard labour and immigration. Pachpute’s drawing process comes to life in Earthwork of Hadsati and Dark Cloud of the Future when the drawing techniques are captured and animated as the artist builds up the surface and erases the charcoal to transform the images. The screening of these films coincides with the artist’s solo show at Jameel Arts Centre, ‘Artist’s Rooms: Prabhakar Pachpute’ on display from September 21, 2019 – February 15, 2020.