Clemens von Wedemeyer at CAC Brétigny: Cinema and Reality

Clemens von Wedemeyer's exhibition at Centre d'art contemporain in Brétigny-sur-Orge ran from January 29 to March 18, 2006. The German artist's films explore cinema's economy, imagination, and its capacity to blur reality and representation. Works include The Occupation (2002), depicting the setup of a night scene with two hundred extras for an unseen film; Big Business (2002), a remake of a Laurel and Hardy film shot in Waldheim prison in Saxony, where inmate-actors reenact the story of two Christmas tree sellers; and Otjesd (Departure) (2005), which juxtaposes historical reconstruction with testimony using video and 35mm film. Rien du tout (2006), co-conceived with Maya Schweizer, began filming at CAC Brétigny in late January and was set to premiere on March 24 at the opening of the 4th Berlin Biennale in 2006. Inspired by Samuel Beckett's Catastrophe, it examines power dynamics between a director and an actor's body. Big Business and Otjesd were also on view at PS1 in New York until April 24.