EYE profiles its latest retrospective exhibition If We Ever Get To Heaven again convincingly and confidently as a museum that looks beyond film history. Previous exhibitions such as Expanded Cinema which showcased visual artists working at the intersection of film and art. Now the honour has fallen to William Kentridge with an exhibition of three works in which he also uses cinematographic means.
In a press conference following the press viewing of the expo, the South African speaks about his work with erudite ease. In doing so, EYE has a first by hosting the first screening of his impressive More Sweetly Play The Dance. Kentridge comes up with a fascinating list of references and inspirations for his work. For instance, the title refers indirectly to a shadowy phrase from the English translation of Paul Celan's unforgettable poem Todesfugue . Furthermore, Kentridge was inspired by the form of the classical frieze with its horizontal parade of figures, as well as Plato's famous allegory of the cave.
Danse Macabre
More Sweetly Play The Dance is an impressive film installation in which you see a colourful procession walking through the long hall of the main exhibition space. In the first room of the expo, you can admire some beautiful props used in the parade. Next, you behold a long and vast desolate landscape shrouded in dark hues. A brass band plays music as people dance, but you also see sad figures. The sick shuffling staggering along in the procession or people carrying something like a heavy burden.
The mood of the work is mostly sad, despite moments of vitality and resilience expressed through song and dance. It feels like a procession of humanity on its way to its end point. Kentridge himself sees the work as a danse macabre and cites a superstition of people in the Middle Ages who thought dance could ward off black death. It is a beautiful premise where the inevitability of death is not denied, but where man's energy can still offer a humble form of resistance to the inevitable.
Constructivist Animations
Two other works can be admired at the expo, which highlight completely different sides of Kentridge's oeuvre. Other Faces showcases his prowess as an illustrator and original animator. The film consists of charcoal drawings made between 1989 and 2011 that have a haunting expressive power. They revolve around the fictional characters Soho Eckstein and Felix Teitelbaum. Partly alter egos of Kentridge, but also creations that stand for the affluent white Afrikaner. The film associatively portrays busy life in Johannesburg, where racial and social tensions are never far away.
And then there are also eight video projections by Kentridges I Am Not Me, the Horse Is Not Mine from 2008. They offer a storm of images inspired by the Russian avant-garde. From constructivist animations and film collages to edited fragments of revolutionary artists such as Dimitri Shostakovich, Vladimir Tatlin and Sergei Eisenstein. As a counterpoint, however, there is also an account of the show trial where Nicolai Bukharin was accused of treason by Stalin. It is a tragic addition that shows that revolutionary art, despite its aspirations and ideals, is subject to larger and darker historical forces.
It is to Kentridge's great credit that despite his staggering oeuvre, he is also aware of the fragility of art. Despite the limited possibility of changing anything, it is still necessary for him to remain creative and critical of reality. You feel this reflected in the work that tries in various ways to get a grip on that tragic circus of human existence. It is this vitality that still creates a measure of modest hope and gives Kentridge the energy to venture assiduously into new projects. For instance, he is currently rehearsing Alban Berg's opera Lulu which he will direct at the Holland festival this summer.
If We Ever Get To Heaven is on show at EYE from 25 April to 30 August 2015. For more information about the exhibition and the extensive complementary film programme, visit this link.
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