SOUTHWIND, 2022, 1h 12m
Filmski esej / Cinematographical essay
Drugi celovečerni film Maxima Berthouja in Marka Požlepa “Southwind (Južni veter)” je nastal kot rezultat umetniškega performansa, ki ga je vodil isti francosko-slovenski dvojec. Ta projekt, ki je vključeval spust po Mississipiju na krovu doma narejenega parnika, je bil namenjen preučevanju gospodarskega in ekološkega vpliva koruzne monokulture na rečnih bregovih. Njuno potovanje se je začelo nekaj mesecev po eni največjih poplav v ameriški zgodovini in končalo le nekaj tednov pred začetkom pandemije COVID-19 in koncem mandata Donalda Trumpa. Med potovanjem po “telesu naroda” film razkriva portret Amerike med dvema krizama.
The second feature film by Maxime Berthou and Mark Požlep, ‘Southwind’ is a film that emerged from the materialisation of an artistic performance led by the same French-Slovenian duo. This project, which included a descent down the Mississippi aboard a home-made steamboat, was designed to study the economic and ecological impact of corn monoculture on river banks.Their journey began months after one of the biggest floods in American history and ended just weeks before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and the end of Donald Trump’s term. As they travel through the “body of the nation”, the film reveals a portrait of America during two crises.
Maxime Berthou, katalonski umetnik, rojen leta 1981. Diplomiral je na Ecole Supérieure d’Art v Aix-en-Provence, nato pa se je vpisal na podiplomski študij v Fresnoy Studio National des Arts Contemporains v Tourcoingu in se udeležil preddoktorskega usposabljanja na Arts Décoratifs v Parizu.
Njegova umetniška praksa obsega predvsem snemanje filmskih esejev, ki temeljijo na performativnih gestah. Včasih pa se pri opisovanju svojih performansov poslužuje tudi drugih oblik pripovedi: pripovedovanja zgodb, dokumentarnega gledališča, literarnih esejev, fotografije … Ne glede na izbrano obliko ostaja namen enak: deliti zapletena ali neizrekljiva umetniška vprašanja prek preprostih in dostopnih zgodb. Njegovo delo je del raziskovalnega konteksta, ki temelji na praksi in prekriva umetniški okvir z znanstvenim.
Njegova dela so bila predstavljena na številnih samostojnih in skupinskih razstavah, v kinematografih in gledališčih po vsem svetu, kot so Centre Pompidou Paris, Telic Gallery Los Angeles , New Orleans Jazz Museum, Matucana 100 Santiago de Chile, MSUM Ljubljana, bienale v Wroclawu.
Mark Požlep (rojen 1981, Slovenija) je diplomiral in magistriral na Akademiji za likovno umetnost in oblikovanje v Ljubljani ter opravil nadaljevalni magistrski študij transmedije na Sint-Lukas Campus v Bruslju in HISK v Gentu. Deluje na področju vizualnih in performativnih umetnosti, prostorskih instalacij in video umetnosti. Njegova umetniška praksa vključuje potovanja, ki delujejo kot dolgotrajna performativna/ vzdržljivostna umetnost in kot samostojno umetniško delo. Gre za intenzivno proceduralno raziskovanje z uporabo metodologije akcijskega raziskovanja, cikličnega vzorca opazovanja in refleksije.
Njegova dela so bila predstavljena na številnih skupinskih in samostojnih razstavah, med drugim EKO 8, Mednarodni trienale umetnosti in okolja / Pismo prihodnosti, UGM, Maribor, L’Effet Domino, Manifesta 13 – Les Parallèles du Sud, Nica; Contour Biennial 9-Colton as Cotton, Mechelen; Southwind, Centre Pompidou, Pariz; Cold Wind From The Balkans, Pera Museum Istanbul; Resilience, 7. trienale slovenske sodobne umetnosti, MSUM Ljubljana; The Event , 29. grafični bienale, Moderna galerija, Ljubljana; Cultural Hero , II. bienale Quadrilateral/BQ_2, Muzej sodobne umetnosti, Reka; U3 , 5. trienale slovenske sodobne umetnosti, Moderna galerija, Ljubljana; Essl Award Winners , Essl Museum, Dunaj/Klosterneuburg
Maxime Berthou, Catalan artist born in 1981. He graduated from the Ecole Supérieure d’Art in Aix-en-Provence before joining the post-graduate course at the Fresnoy Studio National des Arts Contemporains in Tourcoing and then taking a pre-doctoral training at the Arts Décoratifs in Paris.
His artistic practice consists mainly of making film essays based on performative gestures. However, he sometimes explores other forms of narrative to retranscribe his performances: storytelling, documentary theatre, literary essays, photography… Whatever the form chosen, the intention remains the same: to share complex or unspeakable artistic issues through simple and accessible stories. His work is part of a practice-based research context overlaying an artistic framework with a scientific one.
Notably laureate of the Andy Warhol foundation and the Villa Albertine in 2021, his works have been presented in numerous solo and group exhibitions, cinemas and theatres worldwide such as Centre Pompidou Paris, Telic Gallery Los Angeles , New Orleans Jazz Museum, Matucana 100 Santiago de Chile, MSUM Ljubljana, Wrocław biennale.
Mark Požlep (born 1981, Slovenia) finished his BA and MA at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana and completed an Advanced Master’s Degree in Transmedia at the Sint-Lukas Campus in Brussels and HISK in Ghent. He works in the field of visual and performative arts, spatial installations and video art. His artistic practice involves journey-travels, which function both as long-durational performance/endurance art and as an art piece in itself. It is an intense procedural exploration, using the methodology of action-research, cyclical pattern of observation and reflection.
His work has been presented in numerous group and solo exhibition, including EKO 8, International Triennial of Art and Environment / A Letter to the Future, UGM, Maribor, L’Effet Domino, Manifesta 13 – Les Parallèles du Sud, Nice; Contour Biennial 9-Colton as Cotton, Mechelen ; Southwind, Centre Pompidou, Paris; Cold Wind From The Balkans, Pera Museum Istanbul; Resilience, 7th Triennial of Slovenian Contemporary Art, MSUM Ljubljana; The Event , 29th Biennial of Graphic Arts, Museum of Modern Art, Ljubljana; Cultural Hero , II Biennial of Quadrilateral/BQ_2, Museum of Contemporary Art, Rijeka; U3 , Fifth Triennial of Slovenian Contemporary Art, Moderna Galerija, Ljubljana; Essl Award Winners , Essl Museum, Vienna/Klosterneuburg