Rosa Barba's The Hidden Conference is a series of filmic investigations into museum storage and status of art when not on display. This screening will premiere The Hidden Conference: About the Shelf and Mantel, the most recent instalment of the series filmed in Tate’s off-site location where works of art are stored. The first and second films were shot in museum storage areas for the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin and the Capitoline Museum in Rome. All three films portray imaginary conversations between artworks. The sculptures and paintings become characters, enlivened by the restless camerawork and soundtrack. Sound, as is often the case in Barba’s films and installations, is an equal partner in the creation of narrative.
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Rosa Barba, trailer for The Hidden Conference: About the Shelf and Mantel, 2015
Rosa Barba works with film, sculpture, installation and artist’s books, building upon social and cultural research. She crafts her films out of layers of images and sound while also interrogating the physical presence of the medium. As she has stated ‘I am interested in the hardware of cinema – the projector, explored for its sculptural quality, participates on stage and thus defines the ensemble. It is the protagonist of the works but also its own viewer.’ Rosa Barba, Time as Perspective Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2013
Rosa Barba will present the films and discuss her work with Ben Borthwick, independent curator. The evening will also feature live sound choreography by Jan St. Werner with Laetitia Sadier.
Rosa Barba, The Hidden Conference: About the Discontinuous History of Things We See and Don’t See 2010, 35mm, colour, optical sound, 13.40 min
Rosa Barba, The Hidden Conference: A Fractured Play 2011, 35mm, colour, optical sound, 5 min
Rosa Barba, The Hidden Conference: About the Shelf and Mantel 2015, 35mm, colour, optical sound, 12 min
Rosa Barba was the subject of an exhibition at Tate Modern, curated by Ben Borthwick and Cristina Cámara, 15 September 2010 – 8 January 2011.
Biographies
Jan St Werner
Jan St Werner is a composer and musician based in Berlin, Germany. Aliases include Mouse on Mars (with Andi Toma), Microstoria (with Markus Popp), Von Südenfed (with Andi Toma and Mark E Smith), Lithops, Neuter River, Noisemashinetapes. He has produced numerous recordings both solo and collaboratively, including The Fiepblatter Catalogue on Thrill Jockey Records and the Mouse on Mars 21 AGAIN Project on Monkeytown Records. St Werner co-runs Sonig, an independent music label for experimental, electronic and non-genre-specific music. He has composed orchestral works for musikFabrik, Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. St Werner’s solo work has recently been featured at the ICA, London; Radialsystem V, Berlin; Kunsthaus Muerz, Austria; Kunstverein Munich; Cornerhouse Manchester; Museum Abteiberg, Moenchengladbach. He has collaborated with Rosa Barba on various projects, films and installations as Who can tell if I’m inventing? 2005, Ourwardly from Eartch’s Center 2007, Empirical Effect 2009, The Long Road 2010, Somnium 2011, Time as Perspective 2012, Subconscious Society 2013, and Definition Landfills 2014.
Laetitia Sadier
Laetitia Sadier is a French musician, best known as the singer of the band Stereolab, one of the most influential bands of the past 20 years. During the last 5 year, alongside her collaboration with bands such as Atlas Sound and Mouse on Mars, Sadier has released three solo albums (Silencio, The Trip and, in September 2014, Something shines).
