Berlinische Galerie presents Clemens Wilhelm’s first institutional solo show in his hometown Berlin. His films SIMULACRA and A HORSE WITH WHEELS will be screened all day in the IBB Video Lounge from 02.-28. May 2018.
On May 3rd 2018 at 7 pm, an artist talk will be held in the form of a conversation between Clemens Wilhelm & Michael Stoeber (Kunstforum International). Previous to the talk, there will be free entry to the gallery from 5.30 pm to watch the films. As a bonus only on this day there will be a special additional screening of Wilhelm’s film CONTACT.
In his latest video work A HORSE WITH WHEELS (2017, HD, 29 min.), Clemens Wilhelm explores what might be the oldest piece of art we know. The object The Swimming Reindeer was made during the last Ice Age, around 13,000 years ago, and was carved from a mammoth’s tusk. Researchers call it a “useless tool” – a tool just for the mind.
Wilhelm sets out on the trail of this extraordinary sculpture, from where it was discovered in a cave in France to northern Norway, where large herds of reindeer still live today. In an essayistic manner, he tries to get closer to our ancestors who carved this work of art. Were they really so different from us? Has humanity progressed since then? The Swimming Reindeer was made in a period of global warming at the end of the Ice Age, prompting the question: was this existential human crisis a catalyst for the emergence of art? And what are the parallels with today?
SIMULACRA (2015, HD, 33 min.) was filmed in the Chinese theme park Window of the World in Shenzhen, which was built in the 1990s and displays replicas of the world’s best-known tourist attractions. Apart from the shifts in meaning that result from presenting these buildings in a new context, Wilhelm is especially interested in the fact that the entire park was designed for the taking of photographs. Wilhelm enhanced the surreal character of this artificial world by shooting Simulacra in slow motion. In this way he applies a magnifying glass to the question of what it means to take pictures and how they relate to reality.
A HORSE WITH WHEELS will celebrate its German Premiere at Berlinische Galerie, after the World Premiere at Queens Park Railway Club Glasgow in 2017, followed by presentations at Galleria Huuto Helsinki, Aalto University Helsinki, Estonian Art Academy Tallinn, Xiamen University of Arts & Stolen Fire Art Space Quanzhou.
SIMULACRA premiered at CFCCA Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art Manchester (2015), with following presentations at Times Museum Guangzhou, OCT Shenzhen, Organhaus Art Space Chongqing, Institute for Provocation Beijing, Anthology Film Archives New York City, RAM Galleri Oslo, MOMENTUM Berlin, HilbertRaum Berlin, Cuxhavener Kunstverein, Goethe Institut Barcelona, and Palazzo Morpurgo Udine.
CONTACT (2015, HD, 15 min) has been described as “a love movie without love and a porno movie without sex”. It was filmed in Prague, starring the actors Marie Švestková & Sebastian Straub, and tells the story of a man and a woman meeting in real life after meeting online.