Camille Henrot
Saturday, 2017
Saturday, 2017
Courtesy of the artist
Courtesy of the artist
Courtesy of the artist
Courtesy of the artist
Courtesy of the artist
Courtesy of the artist
Courtesy of the artist
Courtesy of the artist
3D Video, color, sound,
19 min 32 sec
Co-produced by Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary (Vienna) ; with the support of Palais de Tokyo ; Dicréam (Centre National du Cinéma et de l’Image Animée) ; dispositif Brouillon d’un rêve de la Scam ; Image/mouvement du Centre national des arts plastiques ; for the creation of original music, and the grants commission of Fondation Nationale des Arts Graphiques et Plastiques. Co-producers kamel mennour (Paris, Londres/London), König Galerie (Berlin), Metro Pictures (New York) Productrices/ Producers: Mathilde Henrot et Florence Cohen
Courtesy of the artist, kamel mennour (Paris, Londres / London), König Galerie (Berlin) & Metro Pictures (New York)
“The authentic (das Eigentliche) in man and in the world is potential, waiting, living in fear of being frustrated, living in hope of succeeding.”
Ernst Bloch, The Principle of Hope
Anything is possible on Saturday; or so we hope on this day, set under the sign of Saturn (Chronos in Greek mythology, god of time, generation, dissolution, and life cycles). Camille Henrot’s latest film, Saturday, focuses on the Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) Church – an evangelical millenarian Christian denomination that celebrates the Sabbath and practices immersion baptism rituals on Saturday. Through the figure of the SDA Church appear the themes of hope for a better life and the desire to flee the daily mundane, which here manifests in a religious mode, but takes form elsewhere in the practice of extreme sports.
Shot mostly in 3D, the film combines scenes recorded at SDA Church sites in the USA, Polynesia, and the Kingdom of Tonga with images of food, surfing, and medical tests; together, they immerse us in a parallel world of hope and belief – of transparencies and opacities. Meanwhile, text scrolling at the bottom of the screen materializes both a source of information and a desire to escape from it.
* 1978 in Paris, France | Living and working in New York, USA
19 min 32 sec
Co-produced by Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary (Vienna) ; with the support of Palais de Tokyo ; Dicréam (Centre National du Cinéma et de l’Image Animée) ; dispositif Brouillon d’un rêve de la Scam ; Image/mouvement du Centre national des arts plastiques ; for the creation of original music, and the grants commission of Fondation Nationale des Arts Graphiques et Plastiques. Co-producers kamel mennour (Paris, Londres/London), König Galerie (Berlin), Metro Pictures (New York) Productrices/ Producers: Mathilde Henrot et Florence Cohen
Courtesy of the artist, kamel mennour (Paris, Londres / London), König Galerie (Berlin) & Metro Pictures (New York)
“The authentic (das Eigentliche) in man and in the world is potential, waiting, living in fear of being frustrated, living in hope of succeeding.”
Ernst Bloch, The Principle of Hope
Anything is possible on Saturday; or so we hope on this day, set under the sign of Saturn (Chronos in Greek mythology, god of time, generation, dissolution, and life cycles). Camille Henrot’s latest film, Saturday, focuses on the Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) Church – an evangelical millenarian Christian denomination that celebrates the Sabbath and practices immersion baptism rituals on Saturday. Through the figure of the SDA Church appear the themes of hope for a better life and the desire to flee the daily mundane, which here manifests in a religious mode, but takes form elsewhere in the practice of extreme sports.
Shot mostly in 3D, the film combines scenes recorded at SDA Church sites in the USA, Polynesia, and the Kingdom of Tonga with images of food, surfing, and medical tests; together, they immerse us in a parallel world of hope and belief – of transparencies and opacities. Meanwhile, text scrolling at the bottom of the screen materializes both a source of information and a desire to escape from it.
* 1978 in Paris, France | Living and working in New York, USA
This work by Camille Henrot premiered on 18th October 2017 as part of the artist's third "Carte blanche" exhibition Days Are Dogs at the Palais de Tokyo.