Masquerade

Original Title: Masquerade

51' | 2015 (Completed)

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(2 images)

Director:	Katleen Vermeir, Ronny Heiremans
Producer:	Katleen Vermeir, Katrien Reist, Ronny Heiremans
Writer:	Katleen Vermeir, Ronny Heiremans

Full credits

In their collaborative practice Vermeir & Heiremans focus on the dynamics between art, architecture and economy, using their own home - a loft apartment in a post-industrial building in Brussels - as an artwork.

synopsis

In their collaborative practice Vermeir & Heiremans focus on the dynamics between art, architecture and economy. In this practice the artists define their own home, a loft apartment in a post-industrial building in Brussels, as an artwork. Whilst keeping their home private, they use it to create 'mediated extensions', translations to installations, videos, performances, publications... that generate a public hyper-visibility for their domestic space.Art House Index (AHI-) is a new 'extension' that proposes the transformation of 'the home as an artwork' into a financial instrument. A financial index measures the performance of a specific part of the economy i.e. Dow Jones, S&P500, BEL20... The potential value of (AHI-) would be its ability to render an opaque static product that is difficult to trade, like a house or art, into a tool of measurement that is very transparent for many investors.In the film Masquerade, a TV-reporter is telling the story of the protested 'initial public offering' (IPO) of (AHI-). While she is addressing the camera, what appears to be a reconstruction of the IPO is taking place in the background. And then it all starts going wrong again! Is the audience witnessing an insider-sales in an auction house, a crash in the market or is it a hearing in a courtroom, one that tries to unveil the intricate dynamics of a confidence game?Art, like finance, is a system of belief and their markets are where this belief is put to work. The ephemeral worlds of 'high finance' and the 'global art markets' thus offer a unique context for the narrative of Masquerade. It is set in a fragmented environment that continuously transforms from a gallery white cube to an auction house, commodity exchange, trading pit, even a courtroom... all places where values are negotiated and exchanged.Masquerade borrows its title and structure from Herman Melville's last novel, The Confidence Man - His Masquerade (1857), a critique of a culture of professional trust, which regards human relation as purely financial transactions. It is a filmic story that narrates in 45 scenes a series of exchanges between a so-called 'confidence man' and his victims. Appearing in multiple identities, the title character manipulates the convictions and the confidence of his victims, and finally binds them with a financial contract.
In hun artistieke praktijk richt het kunstenaarsduo Vermeir & Heiremans zich op de dynamische relatie tussen kunst, architectuur en economie. Die praktijk definieert de woonplek/studio van de kunstenaars – een loft-appartement in een post-industrieel gebouw in Brussel – als kunstwerk, als art house.
Art House Index (AHI–) is een nieuwe 'extensie' die de transformatie van 'het huis als kunstwerk' in een financieel instrument beoogt. Een financiele index meet de prestatie van een specifiek deel van de economie bv. Dow Jones, S&P500, BEL20... De potentiele waarde van (AHI–) zou dan ook liggen in de mogelijkheid om een opaak en statisch product dat moeilijk verhandelbaar is, zoals een huis of kunst, om te zetten in een meetinstrument dat erg transparant is voor veel investeerders.
In Masquerade, vertelt een TV-reporter het verhaal van de gecontesteerde IPO (initial public offering) van (AHI–). Terwijl ze zich richt tot de camera's, vindt er op de achtergrond klaarblijkelijk een reconstructie van die IPO plaats. En dan gaat het opnieuw mis. Is het publiek getuige van een verkoop met voorkennis in een veiling, een crash in de markt of gaat het om een verhoor in een rechtszaal, waarin de intrigerende dynamiek van een vertrouwensspel wordt ontrafeld?
Masquerade dankt zijn titel en structuur aan de laatste roman van Herman Melville, The Confidence Man – His Masquerade (1857), een kritiek op een cultuur van professioneel vertrouwen, die menselijke relaties herleidt tot louter financiele transacties.

Credits

Director
Katleen Vermeir, Ronny Heiremans
Producer
Katleen Vermeir, Katrien Reist, Ronny Heiremans
Writer
Katleen Vermeir, Ronny Heiremans
Cast
Peter Sileghem, Philip Brackx, Sun-Mee Vanpanteghem, Andrea Phillips, Nav Haq, Mon Bernaerts, Elien Hanselaer, Amir Borenstein, Ciel Grommen, Fatos Ustek, Hans Bryssinck, Heike Langsdorf, Justin Bennett, Karlijn Sileghem, Liliane Keersmaeker, Mi You, Michael Schmid
Editing
Amir Borenstein
Photography
Katleen Vermeir, Yichaï Gassenbauer, Amir Borenstein
Art direction
Dieter Leyssen, Ciel Grommen
Costume
Mieja Hollevoet
Sound
Justin Bennet, Michael Schmid, Vermeir & Heiremans
Music
Justin Bennet, Michael Schmid

Format

Creation details

Type
Film
Category
Experimental
Production share
Majority Flemish Production
Belgium
Genre
Year of production

2015
Production status
Completed
Original title
Masquerade
Original language
English

Technical specs

Running time
51'
Available in
2D
Aspect ratio
16:9
Sound format
stereo (2.0)

Contact & sales

Contact

Limited Editions

Vleugelsstraat 100
1030 Brussel
Belgium

Details
Sales

Jubilee

Chaussée d'Alsembergsesteenweg 820b
1180 Ukkel
Belgium

katrien.reist@gmx.net

www.jubilee-art.org

Festivals & awards

Festivals

2015: Bruges Triennal (BE), Dojima River Biennale (JP)

Awards

No award information available.

Partners

Co-production partners

Auctioneers Bernaerts (Antwerp), 4th Dojima River Biennale (Osaka), Goldsmiths, University of London, 13th Istanbul Biennial, Stroom Den Haag, Triennial Bruges 2015

Supported by

Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF)

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Masquerade

synopsis

Credits

Director

Producer

Writer

Cast

Editing

Photography

Art direction

Costume

Sound

Music

Format

Creation details

Type

Category

Production share

Genre

Year of production

Production status

Original title

Original language

Technical specs

Running time

Available in

Aspect ratio

Sound format