Projection shed with Timeline of the Future (English and Arabic)

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Wandering through the Future is commissioned by Sharjah Biennial 8
Theme: STILL Life, Art, Ecology and the politics of change
Location: Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Curated by: Jonathan Watkins, Eva Scharrer, Mohammed Kazem
Period: 4 April - 4 June 2007

Wandering through the Future, film (duration 60 min.), printed timeline, slideshow on billboard, 2 Chroma Key interventions.
Concept and production: Marjolijn Dijkman
Editing / Graphic design: Harmen van Eersel, Visual music
Wonders of the World: Flyer, fly-posted thoughout the city

Thanks to: Jonathan Watkins, Maarten Vanden Eynde, Visual music, Willem Vanden Eynde, the whole organisation of the Sharjah Biennial 8

Participating artists Sharjah Biennial 8:
Ignasi Aballi; Lida Abdul; Jennifer Allora & Guillermo Calzadilla; Lara Almarcegui; El Anatsui; Roy Arden; Vladimir Arkhipov; Mireille Astore; Lara Baladi; Noor Al-Bastaki; Taysir Batniji; Marjolijn Dijkman; Bright Ugochukwu Eke; Sophie Elbaz; e-Xplo (Rene Gabri, Heimo Lattner, Erin McGonigle ) with Ayreen Anastas; Touhami Ennadre; Mounir Fatmi; Peter Fend; Franz Gertsch; Abdulnasser Gharem; Simryn Gill; Tue Greenfort; Group Tuesday (Fadi Abdallah, Bilal Khbeiz, Walid Sadek); Graham Gussin; Khaled Hafez; Henrik Håkansson; Anawana Haloba; Ilana Halperin; Mona Hatoum; Susan Hefuna; Uschi Huber; Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim; Alfredo Jaar; Gulnara Kasmalieva and Muratbek Djumaliev; Marya Kazoun; Amal Kenawy; Leopold Kessler; Suchan Kinoshita; Joachim Koester; Christina Kubisch; Deborah Ligorio; Claudia Losi; Lutz & Guggisberg; Tea Mäkipää; Hassan Meer; Gustav Metzger; MindBomb; Abdul Rahman Al Ma'aini; Maha Mustafa; Jesus Bubu Negron; Jacques Nimki; OMA/ Rem Koolhaas & Reinier de Graaf; Cornelia Parker; Pablo Patrucco; Dan Perjovschi; Dan Peterman; Marjetica Potrc; Michael Rakowitz; Ibrahim Rashid; Noguchi Rika; Budoor Al Riyami; Raeda Saadeh; Abdallah Alsaadi; Huda Saeed Saif; Michael Sailstorfer; Tomas Saraceno; Joe Scanlan; Zineb Sedira; Anas Al-Shaikh; Ranjani Shettar; SOI Project; Samir Srouji; Simon Starling; Gerda Steiner & Jörg Lenzlinger; Rirkrit Tiravanija; Mierle Laderman Ukeles; Sergio Vega; Luca Vitone; Shatha Al-Wadi; Camille Zakharia; Ahmed Mater Al-Ziad.

STILL LIFE, Art, Ecology and the politics of Change. 'The Biennial’s theme proposes art as a way of creating a better understanding about our relationship with nature and the environment, whilst considering its social, political, cultural and subjective dimensions in an interdisciplinary way. SB8 will focus on the renewed role of art in addressing a wide range of issues that alarmingly affect human existence on earth.' Sharjah Biennial 8

Wandering through the Future is exhibited at:
+ Sharjah Biennial 8, Sharjah, UAE (2007)
+ Wandering through the Future, IKON Gallery, Birmingham, UK (2007)
+ Architecture Film Festival Rotterdam, Cinerama, NL (2007)
+ 'Filmische Wahrheiten' Heidelberger Kunstverein, Heidelberg, DE (2007)
+ LOCALISMS, Museum de Paviljoens, Almere, NL

Filmische Wahrheiten, Heidelberger Kunstverein, Heidelberg, DE
Participating artists: Julie Lundsteen Boserup, Marjolijn Dijkman, Harun Farocki, Omer Fast, Elsebeth Jørgensen, Mark Lewis, Karen Mirza & Brad Butler, Jennifer & Kevin McCoy, Eric Rondepierre, Magdalena von Rudy, and Clemens von Wedemeyer.

Wandering through the Future

Wandering through the Future
During my site-visit to Sharjah I became fascinated by the leaking air conditioning units that ‘project’ small green oases onto the desert sand. In response, I created a similar situation where individual imaginary ‘oases’ can be projected. Many film productions use ‘Chroma Key’ backdrops in order to edit actors into animated realities that represent another time and/or space. With two ‘Chroma key’ interventions in the city, this work encourages consideration of small scale individual future scenarios. Besides their position as site-specific interventions, these installations functioned as startingpoints for participants to imagine themselves in the future.

A printed timeline of the future with collected taglines and dates of major film productions, forms the basis for a video collage. This film Wandering through the Future consists of fragments of 70 film productions from all over the world. Passing all sorts of apocalyptic landscapes and scenarios, the one-hour video leads you through the future from 2008 until 802.701 A.D. in order of appearance. The film tries to examine the way the Future has been given shape and how the different scenarios relate to eachother. Worst-case scenarios with for instance natural disasters, utopian and dystopian cities, virusses, clones and habitats on other planets give insights in the fear for one of our main exploration still to come.

In order to publicise the project I collected advertising slogans for property developments undertaken by real estate companies in Dubai. Ambitious, aspirational about the life-style this city is imagining for itself in an idealised future, these were modified and printed as a list on small notices fly-posted throughout the city of Sharjah.

Download Timeline of the Future (English)
Download Timeline of the Future (Arabic)

Download Text by Sabine Hillen ' Wandering through the Future'