A21’s Screening Society:
Realms of the Real
About the film:
The internationally acclaimed artists in “Realms of the Real” conduct extensive historical research, examine the nuances of culture and identity, and explore the boundaries of art and science to create worlds of fantasy and fiction that expand our understanding of ourselves and our world. These four artists expand on the realities of shared history and experience to create fantastical and speculative worlds, offering new possibilities for culture, identity, and the future:
Ragnar Kjartansson
Born 1976; Reykjavík, Iceland
Through performance, music, video, drawing, painting, and sculpture, Kjartansson explores humanity’s fundamental concerns, from myth-making and national identity to love and beauty. Engaging with the history of music, television, and performance, the artist employs simple yet effective strategies, such as repetition and extended duration, (to transform everyday experiences into profound works of art that resonate with the human condition.
Tomás Saraceno
Born 1973; Tucumán, Argentina
Saraceno proposes more just and eco-social ways of experiencing and inhabiting our environment through interactive artworks that bridge architecture, engineering, and sculpture. Uniquely inspired by the structures and behaviors of the more-than-human world, the artist often embraces a collaborative ethos working with specialists across varied fields. In particular, Saraceno studies and replicates the behaviors of spiders to gain a deeper understanding of our collective existence and to imagine new ways of coexisting.
Candice Lin
Born 1979; Concord, Massachusetts
In her research-based practice, Lin works with a wide variety of materials driven by a deep interest in their histories and offers alternative understandings of society and ourselves. Equally engaging historical fact and speculation, the artist gives voice to overlooked perspectives, creating visceral and sensorial experiences through sculptures, videos, texts, paintings, and installations.
Njideka Akunyili Crosby
Born 1983; Enugu, Nigeria
Akunyili Crosby uses painting, drawing, printmaking, and collage to reflect the complex construction of her own identity and those around her. Layering paintings with material from her ever-growing personal archive of Nigerian magazines, album covers, traditional Igbo patterns, (and her own photographs, the artist creates a visual language that celebrates the evolving cultural, social, and individual dynamics of diaspora.
About Art21’s Screening Society:
Art21’s Screening Society is a program that welcomes local communities to gather and watch films about art together. By providing free access to documentary films about contemporary artists, Screening Society promotes conversation, inspires creative thinking, and broadens engagement with contemporary art.
Art21 is a celebrated global leader in presenting thought-provoking and sophisticated (content about contemporary arta preeminent resource for learning first-hand from the (artists of our time. A nonprofit organization, Art21’s mission is to educate and expand access to contemporary art through the production of documentary films, resources, and public programs.
This event is presented in collaboration with Art21. For more information, visit art21.org.
Conversation to follow screening. Free and all are welcome.
