Sarah Morris
01-15 TIMECODES
15 Sakura 2018 14 Finite and Infinite Games 2017 13 Abu Dhabi 2016 12 Strange Magic 2014 11 Rio 2012 10 Points on a Line 2010 09 Chicago 2011 08 Beijing 2008 07 1972 2008 06 Robert Towne 2006 05 Los Angeles 2004 04 Miami 2002 03 Capital 2000 02 AM/PM 1999 01 Midtown 1998
The artist is filming in a molecular biology lab in Kyoto. Shredded paper is in a clear plastic bag. She kicks the bag into the line of the camera. Intellectual property made into a confetti of genetic data. The scientist explains the configuration of companies that actually own the copyrights and patents that surround pluripotent stem cells. She makes a diagram in her mind. Timecode in the camera is 02:30:27. The artist creates a script from the cult book Finite and Infinite Games. She envisions a male voice reading her script in the empty, unused, and not yet Elbphilharmonie hall in Hamburg. Convincing the poet to read her script, she says, “The building is just an excuse,” as her taxi hurls up Sixth Avenue. The artist in a red skirt is in the middle of the Liwa desert. The sand is peach, beige, and red. The environment is seemingly apolitical, but British Petroleum designed an intricate subterranean plan to get the oil out on behalf of the benevolent dictator. Timecode reads 12:28:04. The artist is in the middle, not the Bois de Boulogne. The prostitutes, almost medieval, using the forest as their workplace in the middle of the city, are unaware of a museum going up 200m north. Niemeyer’s manicure was immaculate in his building called Ypiranga, gripping the black leather wheelchair arms; he had become part of his chair at age 104. He tells her she is “intense.” The artist filmed her future address in Philip Johnson’s Rolodex card for Paul Rudolph. 23 Beekman Place. The phone number’s handwritten and reads 212-765-1450. 03:54:28 The lunch hour in Chicago was coming to an end, the long orange nails anxiously tapped on the edge of the bright green soda, hovering above her pastrami sandwich. Four women dance with enormous ribbons in an outdoor park in the days leading up to August 8, 2008 at 8pm, which was officially the beginning of the Olympic Games in Beijing. One can ignore the spectacle. 04:26:02 An elegant Munich apartment with a sign outside that said “Intelligenz Systems Transfer.” Dr Georg Sieber, a choreographer, was in charge of the security for the Olympics of 1972. He sits with a giant Pinocchio behind his desk and speech bubble hanging from his ceiling. He resigned from his post the morning of September 5 upon Black September. His plan was not being followed by the Germans. 02:00:00 The artist stands in a small study above a double garage in Los Angeles. Robert Towne, legendary script doctor, says to her, “You are an anarchist trying to control the fantasy world.” With these words he defines the director and the artist. 17:02:01 A Cuba Libre is mixed by a bartender in Morris Lapidus’s Fontainebleau hotel. Scarface was filmed there. Joan Didion points out the largest CIA operation inside of America occurred in Miami. A paper coffee cup sits in the Cabinet Room of the White House. The president sits next to his enemies, engaging them in debate and dialogue. Timecode reads 02:01:04. There was no tripod for the camera in this situation at this time. She was unaware back then of how many situations she would place herself in. How many situations would unfold and make an image, and a navigational tool; a chain of events, places, and people. A camera could be a weapon the secret service claimed. The camera was placed on the same table that held President Clinton’s coffee cup. 05:12:00 The artist looked at a monitor of a large building that creates a fluorescent green X. An American hotel bathed in green. The helicopter flew down the durational strip of Las Vegas, catching the turbulence of the vivid sprawl below. 05:00:00 A woman paces back and forth outside of a travertine building designed by Gordon Bunshaft. A cigarette is in her hand. A man passes with a briefcase. In the foreground, a woman in beige crosses the camera with a gold watch.
SAKURA / 2018 02:30:27 / 02:34:48
Kyoto University Center for iPS Cell Research and Application / Scientist organizing specimen trays
FINITE AND INFINITE GAMES / 2017 09:06:02 / 09:42:04
Kairos Film Company / Munich / Library corridor / Alexander Kluge walking away from camera / Voice says: “Cultural deviation does not return us to the past, but continues what was begun and not finished in the past. Societal convention, on the other hand, requires that a completed past be repeated in the future. Society has all the seriousness of immortal necessity. Culture resounds with the laughter of unexpected possibility. Society is abstract, culture is concrete.”
ABU DHABI / 2016 27:28:03 / 27:51:04
Zayed Sports Center / Abu Dhabi National Day / Fly-over
STRANGE MAGIC / 2014 12:28:04 / 12:42:01
Bois de Boulogne / Jardin D’Acclimatation / Kids on a trampoline
RIO / 2012 08:17:03 / 08:58:12
Edifício Ypiranga / Niemeyer in wheelchair / Lenin sculpture / Horizontal female nudes
POINTS ON A LINE / 2010 11:00:04 / 12:12:08
Glass House / Philip Johnson Rolodex / Jasper Johns phone number
CHICAGO / 2011 03:54:28 / 03:57:30
Manny’s interior / Close up / Orange long nails / Salad, green fizzy drink on ice
BEIJING / 2008 01:16:45 / 01:17:31
Temple of Heaven Park / Several ribbon ladies dancing
1972 / 2008 04:26:02 / 05:20:08
Intelligenz System Transfer / Dr. Georg Sieber / Pinocchio in the background / Voice says: “And so at that time I did not see a conflict nor did I in actual fact see society drift apart.”
ROBERT TOWNE / 2006 02:00:00 / 02:03:55
Pacific Palisades / Robery Towne’s desk / Voice says to camera: “You are an anarchist trying to control the fantasy world.”
LOS ANGELES / 2004 19:32:04 / 19:39:07
Paramount Studios / Mr. & Mrs. Smith / Film set / Brad Pitt punches himself
MIAMI / 2002 17:02:01 / 17:02:07
Fountainebleau Hotel Bar / Cuba Libre detail
CAPITAL / 2000 03:01:04 / 03:01:14
White House Cabinet Room / Clinton Listening / Coffee in paper cup
AM/PM / 1999 05:12:00 / 05:37:00
Las Vegas / The Mirage Hotel and MGM Grand / Helicopter / Fly-over
MIDTOWN / 1998 05:00:00 / 05:26:00
Grace Building / Woman smoking / High Heels