Wael Shawky 2013
'Myths & Legends' Serpentine Gallery till February 9th
Free
Al Araba Al Madfuna II (2013) is a film shot in Upper Egypt partly in and amongst extraordinary pigeon towers. The camera movements are beautifully choreographed and inventively spatial. The sound is dubbed and synced to the actors with unusual delicacy. The sound quality at the serpentine is controlled with acoustic damping panels on the gallery walls. The edit is unobtrusive and elegant. The film is an unexpected joy to watch. If not for the story or for the filming go to see this for the alien architecture of the pigeon towers. Those of you who went to Future Cities 2: Other Worlds at Greenwich in March would have seen Arne Hendriks talk about pigeon towers and his pigeon guano tower. If you go to this and the Chapman brothers on the same day, see this before the Chapmans. Not much survives The Sum of All Evil.
photographs from Sfeir-Semler gallery
