Unscene
Film & Archival Research, 2008In Assemblage we see the raising of a British observation balloon in Palestine, a metaphor conjuring up both release from the land and the mapping of it in the establishment of territory through the process of reconnaissance, or surveillance. The archive footage has been overlaid with a montage of sounds from different religious orders, including the kiddish, and Jewish sounding of the shofar, calling for repentance and to ‘wake up’ the muezzin, the mosque call to prayer recorded in Istanbul (referenceing the Ottoman Empire) and bells from churchs. At times the sounds seem to almost imitate or respond to each other, confusing identities, whilst also transforming the kite balloon from war machine to a prophetic apparatus of the sublime.
In Reel the disrupted residues of film have been selected – the lead-‐ins and endings of film with music composed by Johann Johannsson called Kaene byr til engli. The music brings to the images an intensity and spiritual dimension evoking the sensual and sublime that is found in the spaces disregarded by the more declarative ways of making sense of the world. The scuffing and scratching from handling film material; black cue dots, overexposing at the end of the reel, numbering or logging marks evokes all that is not seen in the documentation of history.
Solo exhibitions: Danielle Arnaud Contemporary Art, London (2008), Imperial War Museum, London (2008), London Jewish Cultural Centre, London (2008).
Genorously supported by: Arts Council England, Bergen National Academy of the Arts, London Jewish Cultural Centre and Bedford Creative Arts.
Special thanks to Mia Urstad and John Wynne for their resonant sound design.
The Refrain
Essay by Lucy Reynolds Vertigo Magazine
Solo Exhibition Publication Danielle Arnaud 2008
Solo Exhibition Publication Mosiac Room 2017