Introduction

"having been a prisonner of literature 

for two years or more, captured in a 

triangle formed by enrique vila-matas, 

roberto bolaño and w.g. sebald, three

children of robert walser and j.l borges, 

it is impossible for me to present anything 

else here than three short stories which

can be seen or read in any order"

Esther Schipper is pleased to present three films by the artist Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster. For the exhibition, the entire architecture of the gallery has been altered, creating a new space.

Gonzalez-Foerster is showing the short films Gloria (2008, 5 min), Marquise (2006, 5 min), and Parc Central, Taipei (2000 / 2006, 9 min), shot in public parks in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Taipei. The short text printed above marks the start of the show. The three writers mentioned accompany Gonzalez-Foerster in her work, above all concerning the method of creating a blend of fictional and documentary material. Both the initial text and the monologs and descriptions in the subtitles offer the viewer additional levels of reflection besides the images. The comments range from the description of a place through to ideas that form an apparently associative line and which take on concrete significance in connection with the pictures.

Two of the films are set in Brazil: Gloria in a French-style landscape park in Rio de Janeiro, and Marquise is based on an intervention conducted by Gonzalez-Foerster for the 2006 São Paulo Biennial. It remains open whether the story told by the young narrator is fictitious or whether it could have taken place during Gonzalez-Foerster’s intervention. As well as biographical references to the artist, the film situations bear on her themes of space, architecture and literature.