INSTALLATION PREViEW

Shirin Neshat

galleries 0 museums

Film still from Turbulent (1998)

Arabic cultures and the interaction between men and women under strict Muslim law. The isolation and

Leading Iranian video artist comes to the Festival

Shirin Neshat's meteoric rise to international recognition is something most artists only dream of. The subject of major exhibitions both in the States and Europe, she won a prestigious Golden Lion award at the 1999 Venice Biennale for her powerful video installation, Turbulent. Visiting Scotland for the first

alienation of being bicultural is also an integral part of her work. No more so than in Soliloquy.

Filmed in Mardin, a small city in eastern Turkey and partly in the West in Albany, New York, Soliloquy requires the viewer to stand between two large screens on opposite walls of a darkened room. Two women, clothed in a chador (both played by Neshat) lead us on a journey to two very different places - an ancient city in west Asia and a modern city in America. Running

time, the Iranian-born, New York-based artist brings her prize-winning video work and the UK premier screening of Soliloquy to the Festival.

Born in Qazvin, Iran in 1957, Neshat was sent to America to study in 1974, attending the University of California at Berkeley in 1979. Coming from a very different culture, she felt a great sense of isolation. It was also at the time when Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini came into power. Unable to return to Iran until 1990, she was separated from her family for

eleven years.

’When I went to Iran, particularly at the beginning, I felt isolated because I had been away for a long time,’ she says. ’There's such a huge gap and you feel it immediately. It makes you feel uncomfortable as you

don’t quite feel that you belong.’

Although her return was a shocking and painful experience, it has provided the inspiration for her work. Using the mediums of video installation and

Deyhim.

throughout the piece is the hauntingly beautiful, wordless music of her collaborator, musician Sussan

'This piece is about the emotional, psychological state of mind of a person caught in between two cultures that are completely opposed from one another,’ says Neshat. ‘I wanted to show both the positive and negative in both given places. Her place of origin is very ancient, very traditional and incredibly communal, but in some ways, suffocating. The opposite is an

environment that is very individualistic and very

isolating.’

modern but at the same time it feels very lonely and

Despite its obvious biographical elements, Soliloquy as with Neshat’s other works, has strong universal

themes. Something that perhaps we can all relate too.

photography, Neshat explores Western perceptions of

NEW MEDIA PREVIEW

Alan Currall Encyclopaedia And Other Works

The Glasgow artist moves into new territory

In the past, Glasgow artist Alan Currall has presented video monologues concerned with seemingly diverse subject matter from stranded extraterrestrials to overworked microchips all linked by the theme of

weighty concerns addressed from a deadpan viewpomt. His latest work, Encyclopaedia, moves into new territory, using a CD-ROM to capture friends and family passing on their knowledge of a broad range of topics.

’lt’s about the way in which you pick up as much information with which you form your picture of the world from friends telling you about things in pubs as you do from the official channels,’ explains Currall. 'I made a list of the people I thought had made the most important contribution to what I thought I knew, and who I thought I was. It’s to do with an interest in belief structures and how we form our faith in what IS Our reality; the way we almost want to believe that we can define all knowledge and construct a receptacle for this information.’

As well as turning the camera on other people, working with new

(Helen Monaghan) I Shirin Neshat, Fruitmarket Gallery, 225 2383, 5 Aug-23 Sep, Mon—Sat 77am—6pm; Sun noon—5pm. Free.

media was a departure for Currall: ’The major difference from a single- screen video,’ he says, ’is that you can make your own way through the entries. It’s a different structure to it than the standard narrative line. It alters the artist-viewer relationship from an active artist and a passive viewer to something where both parties have an input into the way the work unfolds. It sounds a bit naff, but this way is a bit more democratic, because you’re not dictating to your audience; you allow them some control over how the work appears.’ Alan Currall’s first major solo show is a chance to view the video works he IS best known for, and catch the first example of a new phase in the artist’s career. (Jack Mottram) I Alan Curra/l - Encyclopaedia And Other Works, Stills, 622 6200, 8 Aug-23 Sep, Tue~Sat 70am—8pm," Sun & Mon noon—8pm. Free.

Hitlifl *

The shows guaranteed to deliver a visual sensation

Jon Schueler

Spending his lifetime between New York and Mallaig, a collection of paintings by the American abstract expressionist painter Jon Schueler (1912—1992). Jon Schueler, Ing/eby Gallery, 556 4447, 2 Aug—9 Sep, Mon—Sat 70am—5pm, Free.

Salvador Dali’s Optical lllusnons

Delve into the disturbing world of the surrealist Spanish painter as the Dean Gallery focuses on his lifelong fascination with visual trickery. Salvador Dali’s Optical Illusions, Dean Gallery (Venue 69) 624 6200, until 7 Oct, Mon-Sat 70am—5pm," Sun noon—5pm. £4 (£3).

Men Of The Clyde: . . StanleyS encersVusuon At Por Gas ow (1940—194

See review. Men Of The Clyde: Stanley Spencer’s Vision At Port Glasgow (7 940— 7 94 7), National Portrait Gallery (Venue 44) 624 6200, until 7 Oct, Mon-Sat 70am—6pm; Sun I lam-6pm. Free.

Sharon Kivland: Le Bonheur Des Femmes (The Scent OfA Woman)

Obsession, Allure, Egoiste, Fragile, Envy The names of famous perfumes used as accompanying text in Sharon Kivland’s colour photographs of women shopping at Paris perfume counters. Sharon Kivland: Le Bonheur Des Femmes (The Scent OfA Woman), Portfolio Gallery (Venue 42) 220 797 7, until 2 Sep, Mon—Sat 70.30am—530pm. Free.

Shirin Neshat

See preview, left. Shrin Neshat, Fruitmarket Gallery, 225 2383, 5 Aug—23 Sep, Mon—Sat

7 7am—6pm; Sun noon—5pm. Free.

John, I’m Only Dancmg Embarrassment. We’ve all been there, felt embarrassed, been embarrassing. An international line-up of artists respond creatively to this state of being in a range of mediums including video, sound sculpture, painting and sculpture. John, /’m Only Dancing, Collective Gallery, 220 7260, until 3 Sep, Tue—Sat l lam—6pm; Sun 7—5pm. Free.

3— l 0 Aug 2000 THE lIST FESTIVAL GUIDE 71