Roger Hiorns, Fleet St, 2005, Black and white photograph Courtesy Corvi-Mora
BENIGN
‘The simple act of a group against an individual and the realization of ignored prayer. Leave them with an empty reliance on a benign ceremony and a benign belief.
A film of a play and a song.
2005’
Roger Hiorns, London, June 2005
Roger Hiorns was invited to make a short film that premiered at the fair in The Artists Cinema. Hiorns took the opportunity to develop his sculptural work in a new direction, choosing to focus here on the simple narrative potential of the time-based medium of film. Crafted to a modest degree and as self-sufficient as possible, BENIGN (2005) is minimally shot and features a play written by Hiorns, which a single actor delivers as a monologue directly to the camera.
Circling around a central narrative conceit, the work draws on intimation and description to present a collective who perform a pointless symbolic act. The passive subjects have absorbed the idea of progress to such a degree of pacified banality that they cease to comprehend any notion of challenge or disruption. The piece explores ideas of ceremony, consumption, design, acceptance and criticality.
BENIGN was screened twice daily during the fair in The Artists Cinema and was accessible to all art fair visitors. For a full programme and listings please download a copy of The Artists Cinema publication from The Artists Cinema page.
Roger Hiorns (b.1975) is a British artist based in London. Recent solo shows include ‘Art Now’, Tate Britain, London and UCLA Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (both 2003). Forthcoming projects include a solo exhibition at Milton Keynes Gallery (2006). Hiorns is participating in ‘The British Art Show 6’ opening at Baltic, Gateshead in September and then touring to Manchester, Nottingham and Bristol.
