Beach Study

2012 - Film & Video (Film & Video)

Sriwhana Spong


Inspired by the 1934 novella Duo by the French writer Colette, Sriwhana Spong’s film Beach Study explores ideas of disappearance and the ephemeral, both physically and psychologically. In the film, a female body conducts abstract dance movements on a beach, responding to the environment that surrounds her. This particular beach was one the artist loved as a child, but today it is hardly accessible because it is in the hands of a private landowner. Shot on 16-millimeter film through colored filters, the film has intense flashes of magenta, violet, and amber, and other flickering “light leak” effects. The female body appears and disappears intermittently, creating a surreal and mysterious presence. The overall effect suggests a precarious relationship between memory and experience, transience and monumentality.


Indonesian-New Zealand artist Sriwhana Spong’s practice invests in notions of transition, memory, translation, and the relationship between public and private space, the intuitive and the cerebral, and the body and its surroundings. With a dance background, Spong has a strong interest in choreography and meaningful dialogues and communications that different art forms can generate with each other. Her performances and videos recalls forgotten pieces and reimagines indecipherable sources by dancers she admires such as George Balanchine’s lost ballet The Song of the Nightingale and Vaslav Nijinksy’s “To Mankind” diary entry. By manipulating the sequence of gestures with the traditions and techniques of filmmaking, Spong investigates how the dance movements can register particular events in our collective memories. For Spong, the medium of film is an anthropological tool of inquiry to the search of history, its narrative, construction, transmission and alternation in time and space. Recently, Spong’s practice has shifted to language and focus on the female body, especially toward a group of women mystic writers and creators. Spong questions the ideologies motivating social norms, women’s roles and how inventing a new language is linked to freedom of speech.


Colors:



Related works sharing similar palette

QALQALAH, third issue
© » KADIST

Third issue of QALQALAH, an editorial project by Kadist Art Foundation and Bétonsalon – Centre for Art and Research, Paris >>> To download in the “Attachment section” on the right side of the page...

What Color
© » KADIST

Luke Murphy

2016

What Color is Luke Murphy’s outstanding digital painting that elegantly loops in nonstop motion...

Peter Rostovsky by David Levine
© » BOMB

BOMB Magazine | Peter Rostovsky Necessary (Required) Cookies that the site cannot function properly without...

Thoughts on Collecting Art - via Forbes
© » LARRY'S LIST

Once a person starts accumulating Art, their mind often turns to forming a Collection...

Caught: Goodbye Lin Bo, we hardly knew ye
© » ARTS EQUATOR

Caught: Goodbye Lin Bo, we hardly knew ye | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Articles Singapore Repertory Theatre November 17, 2019 By Nabilah Said and Eugene Tan (2,500 words, 10-minute read) Spoiler Alert: This review contains major spoilers for the show Caught...

The melting glaciers of Karakoram – in pictures
© » THE GUARDIAN

The melting glaciers of Karakoram – in pictures | Art and design | The Guardian Skip to main content From the agencies The melting glaciers of Karakoram – in pictures A view of the Passu glacier in the Karakoram mountain range in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan...

Robert Storr's 'Retinal Hysteria' Responds to Our Cultural Anxiety
© » ART & OBJECT

An Interview with Curator Robert Storr | Art & Object Skip to main content Subscribe to our free e-letter! Webform Your Email Address Role Art Collector/Enthusiast Artist Art World Professional Academic Country USA Afghanistan Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua & Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Ascension Island Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia & Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil British Indian Ocean Territory British Virgin Islands Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Canary Islands Cape Verde Caribbean Netherlands Cayman Islands Central African Republic Ceuta & Melilla Chad Chile China Christmas Island Clipperton Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia Comoros Congo - Brazzaville Congo - Kinshasa Cook Islands Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Curaçao Cyprus Czechia Côte d’Ivoire Denmark Diego Garcia Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Eswatini Ethiopia Falkland Islands Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Heard & McDonald Islands Honduras Hong Kong SAR China Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Isle of Man Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jersey Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kosovo Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macao SAR China Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar (Burma) Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands North Korea North Macedonia Norway Oman Outlying Oceania Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territories Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Pitcairn Islands Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Romania Russia Rwanda Réunion Samoa San Marino Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Sint Maarten Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands South Korea South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka St...

Design Platform Modyfi Introduces Playful and Innovative Real-Time Animation Editing
© » COLOSSAL

If you’re looking for a new way to electrify your social media channels, explore dizzying generative animation tools to enhance your art practice, or have a tight deadline for a campaign that needs a mind-melting visual effect, there’s a new graphics tool to add to your arsenal – and you don’t even need to learn to code...

“Global?” 1 & “Global?” 2
© » KADIST

Yogesh Barve

2013

Global? 1 & 2 documents an annual event during which people of a particular religious group gather around Jejuri in Maharashtra, India...

Tia-Thuy Nguyen — Sparkle in the vastness
© » SLASH PARIS

Tia-Thuy Nguyen — Sparkle in the vastness — Almine Rech Gallery, Matignon — Exhibition — Slash Paris Login Newsletter Twitter Facebook Tia-Thuy Nguyen — Sparkle in the vastness — Almine Rech Gallery, Matignon — Exhibition — Slash Paris English Français Home Events Artists Venues Magazine Videos Back Previous Next Tia-Thuy Nguyen — Sparkle in the vastness Exhibition Painting Tia Thuy Nguyen, série I, my, me, cloud (2018-2023) Courtesy de l’artiste et galerie Almine Rech Tia-Thuy Nguyen Sparkle in the vastness Ends in 13 days: January 11 → February 24, 2024 “Sparkle in the vastness", Tia-Thuy Nguyen’s first show with Almine Rech presents a suite of more than twenty multi-media paintings from the artist’s ongoing series “I, my, me, cloud” (2018–)...

Marie Watt Interviewed by Tess Bilhartz
© » BOMB

BOMB Magazine | Marie Watt Interviewed Necessary (Required) Cookies that the site cannot function properly without...

Free Mochi Pizza For National Pizza Day? Yes, Please
© » KQED

New Mochi Pizza Restaurant Is Offering Free Slices in Palo Alto | KQED Skip to Nav Skip to Main Skip to Footer upper waypoint Food Free Mochi Pizza For National Pizza Day? Yes, Please Alan Chazaro Feb 6 Save Article Save Article Failed to save article Please try again Email A new Peninsula pizzeria believes mochi and pizza are the perfect combination...

Memori Menonton “Two Lines In a Square”: Penjara Bahasa dan Sang Tahanan Bebas Separa
© » ARTS EQUATOR

Memori Menonton "Two Lines In a Square": Penjara Bahasa dan Sang Tahanan Bebas Separa | ArtsEquator Skip to content Azrin Fauzi mengulas "Two Lines in A Square", persembahan yang dilancar di Taipei dan Kuala Lumpur dari dua perspektif berbeza...

Better Lives: Richard Belalufu
© » KADIST

Sue Williamson

2003

In her 2003 series “Better Lives”, Sue Williamson explores stories of immigrants in search of a better life in a historically contentious South Africa...

Heat Waves
© » KADIST

Kent Chan

2021

Heat Waves by Kent Chan examines the contexts, politics, and proliferation of the different aesthetics of heat by drawing from the aesthetics of regions defined by hot and humid climates and associated with histories of coloniality such as ‘the global south’ and the ‘developing world’...

The Yok & Sheryo: “Yeahnahnesia” A Mystical Land and Guide
© » BROOKLYN STREET ART

The Yok & Sheryo: “Yeahnahnesia” A Mystical Land and Guide | Brooklyn Street Art BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY In the realm where imagination dances with audacity, Yok & Sheryo, the dynamic duo hailing from the crossroads of New York, Australia, and Asia, have conjured up a whimsical masterpiece, aptly titled “Yeahnahnesia.” Published in collaboration with the Art Gallery Western Australia, this book is a memoir and fantasy of creativity and storytelling that makes a reader question the boundaries of reality and fiction...

Devan Lewis, Collector Whose Philanthropy Transformed the New Museum, Dies at 87 - via ARTnews
© » LARRY'S LIST

She was also a longtime supporter of MOCA Cleveland and the Aspen Art Museum, among other institutions....