The video works of João Maria Gusmão + Pedro Paiva capture objects and moments that have no special meaning but are commonly encountered in daily life and silently play them back. With their sound completely removed, the video images compel the viewer to concentrate more intently on the movement on the screen, and the strange playback speed— generally slow but also with bursts of speed—provides a novel experience between movement and unperceivable movement. The 11 short 16 mm films ranging in length from 1.5 minutes to 8 minutes are distributed among 6 projectors for screening and depict images such as fruits and vegetables being cut up to reveal their cross section; a large crab- shaped billboard with waving legs; a taxidermied lobster surrounded by hanging ornaments and mirrors that evoke a strange feeling; newly fired pottery being lifted out of a hot fire; and an image of scenes being projected one by one through a projector. Visitors encounter objects and moments appearing different from before through the projectors’ intentional alterations of distance and proportion.
“Our main conceptual interest concerns the theme of technic and technology. We are interested in capturing descriptive film material that could go from the technical device (or craft) to the ideology of progress and whatever it implies anthropologically and metaphysically. We want to film situations that specially reflect on the paradox of the self-representation of the human in its artifacts and the emergence of the inhuman in the machine.” (João Maria Gusmão + Pedro Paiva)
Crab, 2016. single-channel video (16mm film, color, no sound). 7 min. Collaboration: Lamu Palm Oil Factory, Kenya. Co-supported by SeMA Biennale Mediacity Seoul 2016; Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau. Courtesy of the artist
The Riddle of the Lobster, 2016. single-channel video (16mm film, color, no sound). 2 min 25 sec. Supported by SeMA Biennale Mediacity Seoul 2016. Courtesy of the artist
Bread, Tea and Bao Game, 2011. single-channel video (16mm film, color, no sound). 2 min 27 sec. Collaboration: Lamu Palm Oil Factory, Kenya. Produced by Frac Ile-de-France, Paris; Le Plateau, Paris. Courtesy of the artist
Meteoritics 2, 2016. single-channel video (16mm film, color, no sound). 7 min. Collaboration: Lamu Palm Oil Factory, Kenya. Co-supported by SeMA Biennale Mediacity Seoul 2016; Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau. Courtesy of the artist
Projector (Camera Test), 2016. single-channel video (16mm film, color, no sound). 3 min. Collaboration: Lamu Palm Oil Factory, Kenya. Co-supported by Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau and SeMA Biennale Mediacity Seoul 2016. Courtesy of the artist
Sleeping in a Bullet Train, 2015. single-channel video (16mm film, color, no sound). 8 min 2 sec. Thanks to: Kadist Art Foundation, Taguchi Art Collection. Commissioned by REDCAT, Los Angeles. Courtesy of the artist
Wheels, 2011. single-channel video (16mm film, color, no sound). 2 min 33 sec. Co-produced by São Tomé e Príncipe Biennale; Frac Ile-de-France, Paris; Le Plateau, Paris. Courtesy of the artist
The Horse of the Prophet, 2011. single-channel video (16mm film, color, no sound). 2 min 2 sec. Collaboration: Lamu Palm Oil Factory, Kenya. Produced by Frac Ile-de-France, Paris; Le Plateau, Paris. Courtesy of the artist
Cowfish, 2011. single-channel video (16mm film, color, no sound). 2 min 25 sec. Collaboration: Lamu Palm Oil Factory, Kenya. Produced by Museo Marino Marini, Florence. Courtesy of the artist
Pot Smaller than Pot, 2010. single-channel video (16mm film, color, no sound). 2 min 25 sec. Courtesy of the artist
