Clemens von Wedemeyer
The Cast
26 September 2013–26 January 2014
MAXXI – National Museum of XXI Century Arts
Rome, Via Guido Reni 4A
Hours: Tuesday–Sunday 11–19h,
Saturday 11–22h
info [at] fondazionemaxxi.it
A film show that discusses memory, the mechanisms of cinematographic fiction and the themes of contemporaneity
Props and extras referencing the giants of the Rome film industry; the relationship between statue and actor, but also between these two and the spectator’s gaze; the history of film and its hidden aspects; the political struggles of the cultural sector workers of yesterday and today; the Greek myth of rebirth after destruction. These are the themes of The Cast, the exhibition dedicated to Clemens von Wedemeyer, one of the international artists most committed to experimentation within a new idiom that concerns time as much as cinematic space.
Clemens von Wedemeyer presents a film show composed of three new works specifically conceived for the museum’s Gallery 5 (Afterimage; The Beginning: Living Figures Dying and Procession) and an installation composed of diverse forms and sculptures (Remains: The Myth of Deucalion and Pyrrha). The title The Cast alludes to diverse meanings including the production of sculptures (the casting of forms), the process of selecting actors (casting) and the gesture of throwing (casting a stone). The exhibition is born out of the research conducted by von Wedemeyer over the last year spent in Rome and deals with a number of its symbolic, historic and contemporary sites such as the Cinecittà Studios and the Teatro Valle Occupato.
For this project, the artist has collaborated with Paolo Caffoni, co-editor of the exhibition catalogue (Archive Books), with contributions from Marco Scotini, Avery Gordon and Clemens von Wedemeyer.
