Please join us for a screening of four works by artist Bjørn Melhus – Moon over Da Nang (2016), I am not the enemy (2011), Captain (2005), and Resolution (2022) – followed by a conversation with curator Vanina Saracino. The starting point of this event is 1968, when the whole planet was first framed into an image known as the “Earthrise.” Due to its global impact, this photograph seemed an exhortation to rise above terrestrial conflicts and unify the utopian dreams for a common future. At the same time,it showed how the line between still contemplation of the Earthrise and rapid development of technologies for future terrestrial and extraterrestrial extraction of resources has proven very thin. Departing from the aforementioned facts, Melhus’s three works trace the way the gaze of Hollywood cinema and the media have influenced our ways of making sense of the world, in particular in relation to conflicts happening on the terrestrial surface and in outer space. More broadly, Melhus’s work raises questions about the dawn and fall of utopian dreams in connection with outer space, posing timely and ironic questions about how we want to live on – or eventually just leave – this planet.

The event will be held in English. Special thanks to Artport, where Vanina Saracino is currently curator in residence.

Duration: 60 mins

Admission: free 

The number of participants is limited; register by sending an email to CCA Tel Aviv-Yafo Office Manager Guy Bernard Reichmann at info@cca.org.il

Bjørn Melhus

Captain, 2005

Still from video

Courtesy of the artist