Amberes
2016
Video, 00:11:46.
Materials: HD video
Collection: Courtesy of the artist.
Small gestures and interventions in everyday life form the basis of Chantal Peñalosa’s practice, focusing on such notions as labour and migration. Peñalosa’s film Amberes was made during a two-month residency at AIR Antwerpen. She took Bolaño’s novel as a means to reflect on the city, as well as a sense of alienation. Bolaño’s Amberes seemingly has little to do with Antwerp – his reference is rather a projection of a distant place. The poetics of Peñalosa film relates the necessity of historic migration of the early twentieth century from Europe to the United States of America, comparing this history with current social situations, and the desires and imagination of people in search of better lives. Amberes becomes the notion of place we are yet to arrive.
Special thanks to Alan Quireyns
