Human Frames: Ten psychological states – 77 video artists and filmmakers from Asia and Europe

11 June — 24 July 2011, Kunst-im-Tunnel, Düsseldorf

The exhibition Human Frames: ten psychological states - 77 video artists and filmmakers from Asia and Europe is dedicated to the human being, the condition humaine and the various states of mind that accompany man on his journey through life.

In the form of ten thematically compiled film programmes with works by contemporary artists and filmmakers from Europe and Asia that concentrate upon themes such as happiness, desire, madness, fanaticism, fear, anger, isolation, melancholy, the exhibition will re-examine and illuminate human existence at the start of the twenty-first century, including the eastern concepts mono no aware (‘the pathos of things’) and impermanence. 

Human Frames had its exhibition premiere at the Kunst-Im-Tunnel, featuring 77 film and video art works from the collection. The opening night, participated by the curators and artists, included an exlusive showpiece by live musicians Black To Comm performing improvisational musical accompaniment to Earth (a film by Ho Tzu Nyen). The 10 programmes were beautifully installed in the underground museum, both quiet and grand, making use of large projector screens, multiple television sets and blank walls as canvasses. Each programme had its own unique spatial set up in a minimally constructed space where one could wander and encounter the works without limitations.

Artistic Director: Silke Schmickl
Curators: Silke Schmickl, Masayo Kajimura, Stéphane Gérard, Victric Thng, François Michaud
Distribution/Promotion: Jeremy Chua, Mickaël Robert-Gonçalves
Graphic Design: Tetsuya Goto (OOO)
Artists: Adel Abidin, Monira Al Qadiri, Sookoon Ang, Phuttiphong Aroonpheng, Ashish Avikunthak, Rita Bakacs, Ismaïl Bahri, Sarnath Banerjee, Ismail Basbeth, Massimilian Breeder, Nina Breeder, Quentin Brière Bordier, Halida Boughriet, Gérard Cairaschi, Nose Chan, Choi, Bin Chuen Choi, David Cotterrell, Pierre-Yves Cruaud, Arnaud Delord, Johanna Domke, Christoph Draeger, Félix Dufour-Laperrière, Köken Ergun, Yoko Fukushima, Jeanno Gaussi, Stéphane Gérard, Nuria Gómez Garrido, Charlotte Ginsborg, Matthias Groebel, Hatice Gülyerüz, Yuki Hayashi, Barbara Hlali, Laila Hotait, George Hsin, Yasunori Ikeda, Sion Jeong, Jisuk Jung, Masayo Kajimura, Yuko Kamei, Katia Kameli, Kazumi Kanemaki, Sissi Kaplan, Yuki Kawamura, Sunjha Kim, Yeonjeong Kim, Karsten Krause, Romain Kronenberg, Lucky Kuswandi, Wattanapume Laisuwanchai, Christopher Lau, Simon Liu, Denis D. Lüthi, Melanie Manchot, Éléonore de Montesquiou, Marylène Negro, Nhu Nguyen, Frédéric D. Oberland, Junho Oh, Ethem Özgüven, Margarida Paiva, Jean-Gabriel Périot, Vaughan Pilikian, Izabela Plucinska, Triny Prada, Ezzam Rahman, Johanna Reich, Patricia Reinhart, Tulapop Saenjaroen, Masakazu Saito, Veronika Samartseva, Samo (Anna Bergmann), Larissa Sansour, Saki Satom, Fabio Scacchioli, Sylvia Schedelbauer, Alexander Schellow, Tejal Shah, Guli Silberstein, Chulayarnnon Siriphol, Gregg Smith, Steffi Stangl, Carl Stevenson, Suleiman Brothers, Chui Mui Tan, Victric Thng, Moira Tierney, Muriel Toulemonde, Josephine Turalba, Machima Ungsriwong, Paula Un Mi Kim, Jan Verbeek, Virgil Widrich, Tony Wu, Raed Yassin, Nelson Yeo, Biying Zhang, O Zhang, Alice Anderson, Tzu Nyen Ho

Human Frames is supported by the Asia Europe Foundation and the Centre National de la Cinématographie and was developed in partnership with The Substation in Singapore (Aishah Abu Bakar) and KIT - Kunst-im-Tunnel museum in Düsseldorf (Gertrud Peters).

Trailors of the 10 programmes on vimeo, conceived and edited by Adeline Gurrieri.

The project has also been presented at other venues in various settings around Asia and Europe, and continues to do so in different contexts.

05/10/13 / Nuit Blanche 2013 / Paris / France
27-28/09/13 / Société de Curiosité / Paris / France
4-19/04/13 / Alwan 338 Contemporary Art Festival / Al Riwaq Art Space / Bahrain
13-17/06/12 / Werkstatt der Kulturen & Freie Universität Berlin / Berlin / Germany
11/06-24/07/11 / KIT-Kunst-im-Tunnel / Düsseldorf / Germany
17-20/06/11 / The Substation / Singapore / Singapore

Several culture venues and institutes have also hosted presentations of Human Frames for public talks, conferences and interactivity.

08/02-20/09/13 / 3 Human Frames live performances / Goethe Institut / Amsterdam / The Netherlands
30/08/13 / Festival ISI / Montpellier / France
5-26/06/13 / Gefühle Zeigen / Rotunde Bochum - C60 / Bochum / Germany
02/07/13 / École supérieure d’art / Aix-en-Provence / France
11/12/12 / École des Beaux-Arts / Paris / France
28/06/12 / Musée d'art Moderne de la Ville de Paris / Paris / France
12/06/12 / ImageMovement / Berlin / Germany
06/06/12 / Books Actually / Singapore / Singapore
30/05/12 / Cineteca / Madrid / Spain
8-27/11/11 / Festival Video in Progress 4: Feelings of Distress / Ljubljana / Slovenia