La Quinta del Sordo
by Philippe Parreno, 2021, 40''
PHOTOGRAPHY: Darius Khondji   SOUND: Nicolas Becker
EDITING: Ael Dallier Vega   MUSIC: Juan Manuel Artero

Schermo dell'Arte - Archivio Film     Presented at the 15th edition of Lo schermo dell'arte, 2022

 


In 1819, Francisco Goya, deaf, old and ill, moved to a house known as Quinta del Sordo, in the southern suburbs of Madrid, where he painted several scenes directly onto the walls. The paintings were then removed and transferred to canvas in the mid-19th century and today occupy an entire room of the Prado Museum. Using cutting-edge technology for images and sound, French artist Philippe Parreno brings to life the vanished house where Goya created his disturbing
Pinturas negras. The film oscillates between surface and depth, light and shadow. Parreno calls it "science fiction" - thanks to 3D technology, he was able to create an acoustic model to simulate the way in which sound permeated the house's rooms, the creaking of its doors, the trampling of wooden floors, the song of birds that entered through the windows, in a sort of speculative architecture, a ghost space. This sound composition accompanies the images, filmed with a camera capable of high-definition scans of Goya's paintings in the Prado, returning an immersive space. The work was created on the occasion of the recent exhibition dedicated to the Spanish painter held in 2022 at  Fondation Beyeler in Basel. It is accompanied by the live performance of an original score for solo cello by the Spanish musician Juan Manuel Artero.

 


Philippe Parreno

(Oran, 1964, lives and works in Paris). Starting from the 90s his practice included several approaches to storytelling through films, sculptures, performances and drawings. His recent solo exhibitions have been held at: Bourse de Commerce - Pinault Collection, Paris (2022); Museo del Prado, Madrid (2022); Fondation Beyeler (2021); Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin (2018); Museo Jumex, Mexico City (2017/18); Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai (2017); Serralves Contemporary Art Museum, Porto (2017); Hyundai Commission 2016 for the Turbine Hall at the Tate Modern in London (2016); Pirelli HangarBicocca, Milan (2015); Park Avenue Armory, New York (2015);  Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2014).

Selected Filmography
2019
No More Reality Whereabouts; 2016 Anywhen; 2016 Li Yan; 2016; 2012 Marilyn; 2011 C.H.Z.; 2010 Invisibleboy; 2006 Zidane: a 21st Century Portrait; 2005 Stories Are Propaganda; 2003 The Boy from Mars.


 

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