CAMP: In Cameras Res

Opening 16 March 15:00 - 18:00

In Cameras Res

In Cameras Res is an exhibition in which CAMP suggests the optical equivalent of the literary concept (in Latin) In Medias Res, in which the narrative begins in the middle of a plot, or evolutionary sequence. The point at which it enters is the camera itself.

An In-Camera edit is one done without a separate editing process, such as by a person using a film camera.

An In-Camera proceeding in the legal sense, is one from which spectators and jurors are excluded, thus the opposite of a public trial.

For this three-channel moving image installation, the resulting project of a De Appel commission from CAMP, CCTV cameras were programmed to film landscape sequences in Amsterdam. In Cameras Res (2019) engages contemporary image-making from "inside the box," re-working the "patrol" function of the camera, pushing its optical and motor capabilities to the edge. This continues CAMP’s long-time critical engagement with the simultaneous advances in visual surveillance technology and cinema.

In Cameras Res takes its points-of-view from Amsterdam’s historical buildings, the former Royal Dutch Shell Headquarters (now A’DAM Tower), the former NHM building (Netherlands Trading Society, now Stadsarchief Amsterdam) and the former Tetterode printing foundry (now artist ateliers), connecting them to the surrounding landscape via camera-controlled shots. Each film in the exhibition was captured from a single camera position, and each uses a distinct editing technique. We see several micro and macro versions of the city, in different weather and light conditions. The recurrence of certain human subjects in the frame, near or far, suggests a form of reciprocal knowledge or intent, a choreography or interplay of patterns. Here, CAMP speculates about future images and future awareness, via the question: What can cinema be in this time where there are more cameras than people?

Organised by Rachael Rakes, Head Curator and Manager of the Curatorial Programme and initiated by Niels Van Tomme.

In Cameras Res (2019)
3-channel video installation
20:48
Camera software: Jan Gerber

Opening hours
16 March - 20 April
Wednesday - Saturday
14:00 - 18:00

ABOUT CAMP

CAMP is a Mumbai-based studio for transdisciplinary media practices, co-founded by Shaina Anand and Ashok Sukumaran. CAMP’s work engages with the overlapping history and politics of technology, social forms, and image making. From their home base in Chuim village, Mumbai they run the online archives Pad.ma and Indiancine.ma, and the community space R and R, among other activities including their long-running rooftop cinema. Their work has been exhibited internationally, including at the 2010 Liverpool Biennial, the 2009, 2011 and 2013 Sharjah Biennials, the 2012 Kochi-Muziris Biennial, the 2012 New Museum Triennial, Documenta 13 in Kassel and Kabul, the 2013 edition of the Viennale, the 2014 edition of the Shanghai Biennale, the Keimena project at Documenta 14, and the 2017 edition of the Skulptur Projekte Münster.

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