Camgun #84
2008
The work is displayed as part of the permanent exhibition
Installation
Wood, metal, plastic, film reel, film, oil and pencil on transparent paper
45 x 66.5 x 42 cm (sculpture)
90.7 x 122 cm (drawing)
Purchased in the framework of «NEON FUND FOR EMST», 2015
Inv. No.1059/16
One of the most important artists of his generation, Francis Alÿs works with a variety of media (performance, video, photography, painting, etc.), while the methods he employs to thematise social and political issues of our time are both poetic and allegorical. The CamgunsI series consists of copies of machineguns made of wood and metal, along with a number of drawings of them. Here, the guns’ cartridge clip has been replaced by film reels. Inspired by the improvised guns of the Zapatista army in Mexico, these hybrid objects, usually shown as parts of larger sets, function as the physical counterpart of a pun: the work derives its title from the synthesis of the words “camera” and “gun”, while, in English, one and the same verb, i.e. shoot, is used to describe the function of both objects signified by these words; one shoots a gun and one shoots a film or a photograph. With Camguns, the camera becomes a symbol of and a means for the imposition of power. When an act of violence is recorded through the lens of a camera, its factuality cannot be denied: as of that point, the violent act turns into a fact that is repeatable, and narratable as a subjective experience. Through the camera, reality becomes narrative and narrative becomes a “gun” in the hands of each individual narrator.
Anna Mykoniati, text from the catalogue of the permanent exhibition ENTER EMSΤ. Collection & History, A short guide, 2020