The Algiers' Sections of a Happy Moment

  • 2008
  • David Claerbout
  • Film
  • 37 minutes

In Algiers, sections of a happy moment (2008), time is suspended, yet the fragmentation of space – the multiplication of viewpoints and framing – is purified by a temporal dilation. Here, the viewer is ‘omniscient’, one is able to see an action from all angles in that precise momentAnother major layer to Claerbout’s photographic video works is sound. Claerbout himself often refers to his work as “audio pieces embedded in video.” Travel (1996-2013) is a work that was inspired by, and ultimately born from the soundtrack – a synthesised therapeutic music score composed by French composer Eric Breton, designed to reduce stress and induce sleep.

© Adagp, Paris, 2018. Courtesy galerie Yvon Lambert, Paris © Adagp, Paris, 2018. Courtesy galerie Yvon Lambert, Paris © Adagp, Paris, 2018. Courtesy galerie Yvon Lambert, Paris

David Claerbout

David Claerbout lives and works in Anvers (Belgium) and Berlin (Germany). His work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at the Centre Pompidou, Paris, France; Dundee Contemporary Arts Centre, Dundee, Scotland; Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, The Netherlands; Galleri K, Oslo, Norway; and Centro de Arte Contemporanea de Galicia, Santiago di Compostela, Spain. His works have also been included in the exhibition Belgique Visionnaire, organized by Harald Szeeman at the Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Belgium, and at venues such as Montevideo, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; The Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, USA; Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, Austria; SMAK Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst, Ghent, Belgium; Centre pour l'image contemporaine, Geneva, Switzerland; MuHKA Museum of Contemporary Art, Antwerp, Belgium; and FRI ART Centre for Contemporary Art, Fribourg, Switzerland. David Clarebout lives and works between Berlin and Antwerp.