Daria Martin’s most ambitious short film to date, A Hunger Artist is based upon Franz Kafka’s last short story edited from his death-bed in 1924. Futility and endurance are entwined in a story of a durational performance artist whose act of fasting is going out of fashion.
Occupying the main screen in Sheffield’s historic Abbeydale Picture House, a ‘picture palace’ built in the 1920s to present cine-variety theatre before the ‘talkies’ became popular, Martin’s film attends to resistance and human need. A landmark in the life of the Picture House, this will be the first use of the ornate balcony since its heyday in the early 20th century.
Preview: Friday 13 April, 6 – 8pm
This event will be split into two sessions, to allow as many people as possible to see the film. Places on the balcony are limited, so please book your session in advance. If you have specific access requirements, please email kirsty.young@sitegallery.org
Weekly Screening Times:
Booking for each screening time is essential – maximum capacity 20 for each screening.
Thursdays:5 – 8pm
Screenings at 5pm, 6pm and 7pm
*Please note there will be no screening on Thursday 26 April.
Fridays (from 14 April) – Sundays:12 – 3pm
Screenings at 12pm, 1pm and 2pm
In Conversation: Daria Martin and Sara Cluggish: Thursday 3 May, 6pm
A Hunger Artist marks the first time Martin will create a work in HD as opposed to 16mm film. She began her career as a painter and sculptor, and negative film has offered a robust visual corollary to these media. In recent years, Martin has been looking to transition to HD video not least because of its logistical and economic advantages, but also due to its own unique aesthetic. For this project, Martin aims to highlight the possibilities of HD video to convey visceral tactility as well as distance.
A Hunger Artist – HD Film, 17 minutes, 2017
Funded by Site Gallery, Sheffield, UK; VISUAL Carlow; Schering Stiflung, Berlin; Oxford University; Arts Council England and The Wellcome Trust.
Daria Martin is an American artist-filmmaker working in London and Professor of Art at Oxford University. Solo exhibitions include Austrialian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne; Tate Britain, London; New Museum, New York; Kunsthalle Zurich, and Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. Group exhibitions include 14th Istanbul Biennial, Shanghai Biennial, Manifesta, Pompidou, Paris, Generali Foundation, Vienna, and Museum of Modern Art, Sao Paulo. Her work is currently on view in the collection display at Tate Modern, London.
Daria Martin in represented by Maureen Paley, London.
www.dariamartin.com