Film and Video Umbrella

PROJECTS

Birdsong

2004

Sutapa Biswas

'Birdsong' is a super 16mm film co-commissioned by inIVA and Film and Video Umbrella. It is a projected film tableau in which a horse is viewed in a domestic interior, standing motionless except for the gentle and subtle movements of its body.

Seen through the eyes of a child - whose dream it is to have a horse living in his house - this haunting piece addresses the impossibility of dream and desire and the 'squeezing out' of reality. The heavy physical presence of this large animal establishes a tension both with the small origami winged horse shown hanging like a child's mobile in the accompanying shots and with the iconographic nature of the image. The inspiration for this particular work is Stubbs' painting Lord Holland and Lord Albemarle Shooting at Goodwood (1759), in which a young black servant can be seen holding his master's horse.

Through the medium of film, Biswas takes us on a metaphysical journey, exploring the transformative nature of intimate and familial relationships. Having initially established a reputation as a painter in the 1980s, Biswas's transition to the moving image is informed by a strong painterly aesthetic. She draws on a variety of literary and visual sources in her films, from writings by Marcel Proust and the psychoanalyst Frantz Fanon, to paintings by George Stubbs and Edward Hopper.

Cafe Gallery Projects, 26-May-04 to 20-Jun-04
Southwark Park London SE16 2UA

Angel Row Gallery, 18-Sep-04 to 06-Nov-04
Angel Row Gallery Central Library Building 3 Angel Row Nottingham NG1 6HP

Harewood House & Leeds City Art Gallery, 02-Oct-04 to 14-Nov-04