Close to the Sea by Yang Fudong. Courtesy FACT.
With a massive 10-screen installation from Shanghai-based artist Yang Fudong and an intimate manipulation of surveillance cameras by New Yorker Jill Magid, FACT’s Biennial contribution is a somewhat fitting one.
Situated on Liverpool’s Wood Street, the £10 million Film, Art and Creative Technology centre is hosting two new filmic commissions as part of the International 04 strand of the city’s Biennial visual arts festival.
Drawing inspiration from Shanghai’s film-making tradition of the 1920s and 30s, Yang Fudong has created a huge 10-screen installation to occupy Gallery 1.
In the darkened room, a vast central projection depicts a young couple and is surrounded by two similar sized screens on each of the four walls.
It’s a stunning arrangement. A seaside setting brings Fudong’s Shanghai home and Liverpool together, while his young couple in love talk about their ideals, beliefs and expectations of each other.
The wall pieces feature musicians standing dramatically on a rocky shoreline playing a haunting soundtrack of subtle trumpet and vibes.
Situated on the site of a former tea warehouse, FACT has been a part of Liverpool's thriving arts scene since February 2003. Courtesy FACT.
This works as a lament for the couple who appear to be survivors of a shipwreck and establishes a connection between them, the sea and the viewer.
There’s a strong cinematic component and the tension is never fully resolved. The obvious words: strange, dream-like and disturbing come to mind. But the overall feeling is one of beauty.
Moving on through this stunning building, up the suitably sweeping stairs and into Gallery 2, you’ll find Retrieval Room by New York-based artist, Jill Magid.
Working with the Liverpool police surveillance department, known as City Watch, Magid used CCTV cameras around the city to create a compelling piece that works not only as a personal diary of her experience, but also as a portrait of the city.
Over a period of 31 days, wearing a bright red trench coat and knee length boots, Magid was watched by the surveillance team. The resulting footage has been edited into a film.
Retrieval Room by Jill Magid. Courtesy FACT.
It works as a kind of memory piece and plays in a gallery where five chairs, representing five police officers assigned to work with her, are arranged for viewers to sit on and read diaries placed beside them.
These diaries take the form of the paperwork used by members of the public who’ve been assaulted or mugged, which is then used by police to scour hours of CCTV footage for evidence.
Disturbingly Magid found herself the victim of a mugging, though luckily for her the level of surveillance ensured her 15-year-old attacker was swiftly caught. She didn’t press charges.
Filmed in Liverpool and now being shown in Liverpool, Magid’s work slots neatly into place at a moment when many new pairs of eyes are focussing in on the city.
The Biennial buzz is beginning to take hold – as anyone who pops into the visitor centre a couple of doors down will testify. Works of art are gradually filling the city, making it one big art gallery
FACT lends itself perfectly to this whole. The space is such that people can wander in and out, dipping their toes into the experience or immersing themselves in it as they please.
