Hear me, children-yet-to-be-born

Film screening 7-9pm

Featuring work by:

Sandy Amerio

Sandy Amerio, video still from, Hear Me, Children-yet-to-be-born, 2004
DVD, 45 min
Courtesy the artist

ART2102 is proud to present Hear me, children-yet-to-be-born, an new experimental movie by Paris-based artist Sandy Amerio, whose video work questions the formal characterization of the documentary, fiction and art practice.

Shot entirely in the Death Valley, Hear me, children-yet-to-be-born splices a strange contemporary narrative and the majestic, timeless environment of the American desert. A journey through the valley, at once harsh and cinematic, lets the arid wilderness unfold slowly to the voice of a manager telling a fictitious assembly a story that occurred during his last business trip to the Dead Sea. Following an anecdotal start, the tale soon reveals the manager’s intent to lay off the employees who listen to him.

Hear me, children-yet-to-be-born bridges a notion of the American collective unconscious with a fascination for narrative, drawing from such seemingly diverse sources as the business world, the Bible and the events of September 11th, 2001. Particularly, it investigates storytelling in the corporate environment, a practice used by managers in some large companies such as Nike, Adobe or Disney, who tell tales to employees with the aim of generating or influencing their behavior and feelings. Such storytelling, heavy in metaphors and analogies, has multiple applications: from personnel conflict management to finding some explanation for downsizing, lay-offs, or increase of production.

Hear me, children-yet-to-be-born
45 minutes, an experimental film Co-produced by les Laboratoires d’Aubervilliers, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, AFAA residency program, 18th Street Arts Complex, Los Angeles 2003, the French Ministry of Culture, CNAP, Research Grant in France and Abroad (video section) 2002

Sandy Amerio is a video artist, photographer and writer. She was born in 1973 in Paris where she lives and works. She studied fine arts in Nantes and Le Fresnoy (International Studio of Contemporary Arts) and has worked with curators such us Jean-Charles Massera, Catherine Francblin, Michel Nurdidsany. She has participated in screenings at many international venues including the Kyoto Art Festival in Japan, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Helsinki, the International Film Festival of La Rochelle, and in cinemas like the Brotfabirk in Berlin, MK2 Bibliotheque in Paris.
In 2002 and 2003 she was awarded two grants (from the Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Foreign Affairs AFAA) for the production of Hear me, children-yet-to-be-born. The film was entirely shot in the Death Valley and featuring Nancy Ferguson (who had worked with film makers such as Paul Verhoeven and David Lynch) during her residency at 18th Street Arts Complex in Santa Monica. In 2004, both the Espace Paul Ricard and the underground Les Laboratoires d’Aubervilliers organized solo exhibitions of Amerio’s work. In the same year she also published her first bilingual book of storytelling (with contributors of American thinkers of management such as Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Diana Hartley and Doug Stevenson).
Her last film screening took place at the Festival de Cannes 2005 as part of a special screening of artist’s films.

>Back to Program