Liam Gillick and an Austrian Art Collective Transformed Vienna’s Kunsthalle Into a Nightmarish Film Set—See It Here

The constantly changing scene of Liam Gillick and the
Austrian collective Gelatin’s current show at the Kunsthalle in
Vienna is slightly unnerving. The entire installation looks like
it’s on the verge of collapse. And recently, a band of
altered musical instruments have sporadically starting playing
themselves.

For their first major collaboration, Gillick and Gelatin have
transformed the institution into a treacherous-looking film
set for their experimental movie, Stinking Dawn, which was
filmed over the course of a week in July. A motley group of
artists, friends, musicians, and performancers were cast as members
of the ensemble, and unwitting museum visitors became extras in the
production.

The Kunsthalle describes the project as an exploration of
destiny, looking at “human tolerance in the face of oppression,
political crisis, and excessive self-delusion.” All the
world’s crises are manifest, played out in the artists’ twisted
microcosmic universe.

The show is now the remnants of the film set, and it
marries Gillick’s proficient critical writing, which unpacks
neo-liberal political structures, with Gelatin’s exceptional
knack for pushing creative boundaries. The plot of the movie, yet
to be released, focuses on four “privileged young people” who are
sifting through a world on the brink of ruin. The
mise-en-scene references Roman amphitheaters, night clubs,
and prisons. Black graffiti crawls up the sides of the
installation, and includes various repeated lines. “We are fashist
worms” is scrawled on a wall with an intentional misspelling.

Gelatin is well known for its irreverent art practice. In 2008,
the group transformed the terrace of the Hayward Gallery in London
into an infinity pool with a fleet of little row boats that
visitors could use. At a provocative solo
exhibition at New York’s Greene Naftali gallery in 2017,
Gelatin presented an array of holy ceramics that the four artists
had had sex with.

The film is still in editing stages, but its due to be premiered
later this fall in a yet-to-be-announced location. For now, take a
look at installation views and shots of the performers, below. The
show is on view at the Kunsthalle Wien through October 6.

The post Liam Gillick and an Austrian Art Collective
Transformed Vienna’s Kunsthalle Into a Nightmarish Film Set—See It
Here appeared first on artnet News.