De_Constructiv Garden Tales
Recent video works by Kaz Rahman
These recent video works showcase a collage of elements that combine hand-drawn and animated gestures with live action and archival. An architectural framework wraps these 5 garden tales which include a dreamy journey through sun-soaked streets, face masks, borders and the 1918 Influenza Pandemic (A Short History of Face Masks), voyage/shadows, waterscape/sea creatures, cloudscape/birds (Lampedusa), an abstract landscape through chaos and serenity (Digital Dervish + Flamenco Sonic) and tributes to the formal possibilities and joys of early experimental cinema (Grand Theatre and Picture Palace: A Carnivalesque Homage to Hans Richter and Bees Mechanique: A Pollenizing Homage to Fernand Leger).
A SHORT HISTORY OF FACE MASKS
2022 RT: 10 min.
Super 8 and Video with Archival
A dreamy journey through sun-soaked streets, face masks, borders and the 1918 Influenza Pandemic. It is also a reference to the endless cycle of history repeating itself.
LAMPEDUSA
2019 RT: 26 min.
Video and Animation
Originally made as part of Eduardo Miranda’s live opera Lampedusa, the film is divided into three acts that encompass voyage/shadows, waterscape/sea creatures, cloudscape/birds.
DIGITAL DERVISH + FLAMENCO SONIC
2022 RT: 30 min.
360 Video and Animation
Originally made as part of Hedy Hurban’s live performance Digital Dervish + Flamenco Sonic the film provides an abstract landscape to the story through chaos and serenity.
GRAND THEATRE AND PICTURE PALACE: A CARNIVALESQUE HOMAGE TO HANS RICHTER
2018 RT: 2 min.
Video and Animation with Archival
An ode to one of the original theatres in Plymouth (UK) and a reference to the spectacle of a new art form from its stage-like opening to its free intermingling of theatrical forms, circus-like performances and animated floating creatures. It is also a tribute to the formal possibilities and joy of early experimental cinema with its use of Richter’s hypnotic Rhythmus 21 (1921).
BEES MECANIQUE: A POLLENIZING HOMAGE TO FERNAND LEGER
2020 RT: 4 min.
Video and animation with Archival
Represents the beauty and some of the unknown complexities of the work of bees through experimental abstraction. Bees are a vital part of nature that continue their ordained job of collecting nectar and zooming from flower to flower. The images evoke a spirit of movement in a macro world. It is also a tribute to the formal possibilities and joy of early experimental cinema with its use of Leger’s hypnotic Le Ballet Mecanique (1924) which juxtaposes the industrial ‘ballet’ of a century ago.
Press
DE_CONSTRUCTIV GARDEN TALES Recent Video Works by Kaz Rahman, A Review by Alex Stern, A+A GALLERY 103. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, OCTOBER 10-31, 2022.
DE_CONSTRUCTIV GARDEN TALES Recent Video Works by Kaz Rahman, The University of Tennessee School of Art Website, A+A GALLERY 103. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, OCTOBER 10-31, 2022.
Flâneuring in the De_Constructiv Garden by Heather Coker Hawkins, A Review by Heather Coker Hawkins
