The Power Plant

Ulla von Brandenburg has developed a visual art practice in which films, performances, sculptures, installations, books and drawings exist side by side. The apparatuses in her films and installations echo those found in the history of theatre and stage design. Her work explores states of consciousness that allow the characters in her films and the viewer to experience worlds caught between past and present, reality and illusion, the sacred and the secular.

It Has a Golden Red Sun and an Elderly Green Moon, von Brandenburg's first solo exhibition in Canada, brings together five recurring themes in her work: colour, ritual, movement, stairs and textiles. The inspiration for these themes are drawn from the architecture of modern theatre and theorist Adolphe Appia's stage designs; the dances of movement theorist Rudolf von Laban and the Judson Dance Theater; the work on movement by playwright Samuel Beckett and the artist Bruce Nauman; and John Cage's musical constructions on randomness.

The exhibition features the new commissioned film It has a Golden Sun and an Elderly Grey Moon (2016), co-produced by The Power Plant, Toronto; the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA), Melbourne; the Darling Foundry, Montreal; Aarhus 2017: European Capital of Culture, Denmark; and Museum Haus Konstruktiv, Zurich. unfolds in a large installation designed for this particular site. It operates simultaneously as both a stage set and a film.

It Has a Golden Sun and an Elderly Grey Moon (2016) takes place on the stage of Théâtre des Amandiers in Nanterre, France. This space is structured by two large staircases that serve as a platform. Comprised of different levels, the staircase is a means of architecturally representing hierarchies in space. The various actions taking place are embodied by dancers’ simple movements and their handling of coloured pieces of fabric. The film is presented in a black and white scenography that mirrors the stage on which the action of the dancers takes place.

Alongside the new film and installation, The Power Plant presents a survey of von Brandenburg’s film works in an installation designed by the artist. The selection includes Die Strasse (2013), Singspiel (2009) as well as The Record (2005-2014), which was filmed in Toronto.

The exhibition is also accompanied by the publication It Has a Golden Sun and an Elderly Grey Moon, edited by Alexandra Baudelot. Between a monograph and an artist's book, this publication brings together texts by various authors exploring the five themes of the exhibition, which are also present in von Brandenburg's wider work.Published by Mousse, It Has a Golden Sun and an Elderly Grey Moon is funded by the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA), Melbourne; The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto; Aarhus 2017: European Capital of Culture, Denmark; Museum HausKonstruktiv, Zurich; the Ricard Foundation; and the CNAP, Centre national des arts plastiques, France.

It Has a Golden Red Sun and an Elderly Green Moon is presented concurrently with an exhibition at the Darling Foundry, Montreal.

LEARN MORE

Watch a video of The Power Plant's Summer 2016 Season

Summer 2016 Program Guide