Past Exhibitions | Time Zones
Blindfold 2002
Blindfold 2002 / Running time: 15 min
Courtesy Galerie Chantal Crousel
Blindfold is a double projection showing two empty billboard sites. The metallic surface of the hoardings reflects the setting sun.
At times the reflection is so bright it is uncomfortable to look directly at the billboards; but as the sun’s angle changes, the reflected light dims and the surroundings are gradually revealed. On one screen we see a makeshift balcony clinging to the side of a rundown building. Unexpectedly, a woman appears and sweeps the balcony, reminding us of the ‘real time’ of the scene. On the other screen we see a wasteland of rubble with a rough path by the side of a road. The forms of passers-by can be made out through the glare.
Street sounds are interspersed with staccato violin notes that seem to relate to the piercing light, creating a sense of unease.
The background noise helps us to glean further details about the surroundings — the frequency of the cars, the pace of pedestrians and the unpaved ground. The location seems to be in a state of economic transition: the vacant plot of land and the empty hoardings could portend either economic progress or recession. We are not told where it is, though the uneven pace of development suggests the artist’s native Albania.
Sala grew up in Tirana during the Communist era and witnessed Albania’s arduous conversion to capitalism. In this, as in a number of his other works, he allows an everyday situation to stand as an allegory for a troubled society in transition.
Anri Sala was born in 1974 in Tirana, Albania, and lives and works in Paris.
Tate Modern | Past Exhibitions | Time Zones | The Artist
Time Zones: Recent Film and Video
6 October 2004 – 2 January 2005
(Via Tate Modern.)
