Shezad Dawood (UK)
26.1.-28.4.13
Kinokino, Sandnes
Video, mixed media, neon lights
Kinokino fill their exhibition space with the works of British artist Shezad Dawood this spring, exhibiting a wide range of exotic symbols, music and patterns. Here is Moroccan music, 70s phsycedelica, Pakistani blankets with symbols like cosmic egg or elipses, and a trailer for a movie about aliens settled on Earth. Are these flashes of other worlds and cultures, or are these symbols of something we can relate to?
Most frustration but also inspiration comes from the movie. This is a 15 minute trailer from a full-length movie, about aliens settled on Earth. Their task is to observe the birth and life of the Earth, but when the time comes to return to their home, they are reluctant to leave. Having read this introduction before seeing the trailer, I get large expectations. From this I get some kind of idea what is happening. Had I not read it beforehand I would have had no clue. So in this way the movie is frustrating, there is no apparent story or red line. But at the same time the story gets me thinking: The aliens may well love our culture here on Earth, but would be cautious to reveal their own identity. Would we be eager to accept their culture as they accept ours? Could the same be said about cultures closer to ours, other Earth cultures like Moroccan or Pakistani from the other artist’s works?
Cosmic Egg II
Equinox + Inside the Spaceship
Trailer
