THE OTOLITH GROUP
IN THE YEAR OF QUIET SUN
Delfina Foundation
29/31 Catherine Place London
13/10/2014 al 8/11/2014
Delfina Foundation presents The Otolith Group’s In the Year of the Quiet Sun (2013) as part of a programme of film cycles over 2014-15. In the Year of the Quiet Sun will be complemented by videos and films curated by The Otolith Group.
In the Year of the Quiet Sun
This video essay takes its name from the solar phenomenon that occurs every eleven years when the sun’s surface cools enough to allow observatories to study solar activity. From November 1964 to November 1965, the countries of the world, including many newly independent African states, issued stamps to commemorate the first scientific expedition to study the surface of the sun.
As these stamps turned their face towards the sun, they overlooked the instability on the ground: the military coups planned by soldiers against the governments of Nigeria and Ghana, the popular and murderous uprisings in Zanzibar, the crisis of sovereignty in the Congo instigated by the Force Publique, sustained by Union Miniere de haut Katanga and worsened by the intervention of the United Nations.
In this work, the astronomical time of the quiet sun converges with the political calendar of conferences that took place in cities such as Bandung, Cairo, Belgrade, Accra, Addis Ababa, Saniquelle and Casablanca throughout the 1950s and 1960s, when politicians, activists and journalists gathered to debate and plan the continental programme of Pan Africanist policy.
In the Year of the Quiet Sun proceeds through scenes that allude, often indirectly, to the making and the unmaking of polity on a continental scale. It focuses upon magnified details of postage stamps, generating a digital monumentality that pays attention to the anonymous verdict of inadvertent iconoclasm visited upon the political ceremony of Independence by an unattributable postal history.
In the Year of the Quiet Sun was co-commissioned with Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin and Casco-Office for Art, Design and Theory in partnership with Artsonje Center.
To complement their film In the Year of the Quiet Sun, The Otolith Group has curated a programme of videos and films:
1. Afrique 50, Rene Vautier, 1950, 17mins
2. J’ai huit ans, Yann le Masson and Olga Poliakoff, 1961, 9m. 10 seconds
3. Die Worte des Vorsitzenden, Harun Farocki, 1968, 2 mins
4. Rat Life and Diet in North America, Joyce Wieland, 1968, 16mins
About The Otolith Group
The Otolith Group was founded in 2002 and consists of Anjalika Sagar and Kodwo Eshun who live and work in London.
During their longstanding collaboration, they have drawn from a wide range of resources and materials, exploring the moving image, the archive, the sonic and the aural within the gallery context. Their work is research-based and has focused on the essay film as a form that seeks to look at different conditions, events and histories.
The Group have exhibited, installed and screened their works nationally and internationally. They have been commissioned to develop and exhibit their art works, their research, installations, and publications by a wide range of museums, public and private galleries, biennials, foundations and other bodies.
The Otolith Group were nominated for the Turner Prize in 2010.
IN THE YEAR OF QUIET SUN
Delfina Foundation
29/31 Catherine Place London
13/10/2014 al 8/11/2014
Delfina Foundation presents The Otolith Group’s In the Year of the Quiet Sun (2013) as part of a programme of film cycles over 2014-15. In the Year of the Quiet Sun will be complemented by videos and films curated by The Otolith Group.
In the Year of the Quiet Sun
This video essay takes its name from the solar phenomenon that occurs every eleven years when the sun’s surface cools enough to allow observatories to study solar activity. From November 1964 to November 1965, the countries of the world, including many newly independent African states, issued stamps to commemorate the first scientific expedition to study the surface of the sun.
As these stamps turned their face towards the sun, they overlooked the instability on the ground: the military coups planned by soldiers against the governments of Nigeria and Ghana, the popular and murderous uprisings in Zanzibar, the crisis of sovereignty in the Congo instigated by the Force Publique, sustained by Union Miniere de haut Katanga and worsened by the intervention of the United Nations.
In this work, the astronomical time of the quiet sun converges with the political calendar of conferences that took place in cities such as Bandung, Cairo, Belgrade, Accra, Addis Ababa, Saniquelle and Casablanca throughout the 1950s and 1960s, when politicians, activists and journalists gathered to debate and plan the continental programme of Pan Africanist policy.
In the Year of the Quiet Sun proceeds through scenes that allude, often indirectly, to the making and the unmaking of polity on a continental scale. It focuses upon magnified details of postage stamps, generating a digital monumentality that pays attention to the anonymous verdict of inadvertent iconoclasm visited upon the political ceremony of Independence by an unattributable postal history.
In the Year of the Quiet Sun was co-commissioned with Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin and Casco-Office for Art, Design and Theory in partnership with Artsonje Center.
To complement their film In the Year of the Quiet Sun, The Otolith Group has curated a programme of videos and films:
1. Afrique 50, Rene Vautier, 1950, 17mins
2. J’ai huit ans, Yann le Masson and Olga Poliakoff, 1961, 9m. 10 seconds
3. Die Worte des Vorsitzenden, Harun Farocki, 1968, 2 mins
4. Rat Life and Diet in North America, Joyce Wieland, 1968, 16mins
About The Otolith Group
The Otolith Group was founded in 2002 and consists of Anjalika Sagar and Kodwo Eshun who live and work in London.
During their longstanding collaboration, they have drawn from a wide range of resources and materials, exploring the moving image, the archive, the sonic and the aural within the gallery context. Their work is research-based and has focused on the essay film as a form that seeks to look at different conditions, events and histories.
The Group have exhibited, installed and screened their works nationally and internationally. They have been commissioned to develop and exhibit their art works, their research, installations, and publications by a wide range of museums, public and private galleries, biennials, foundations and other bodies.
The Otolith Group were nominated for the Turner Prize in 2010.
