Material Witness OR A Liquid Cop
Ed Atkins
2012
Length: 19 mins 16 secs
Medium: Single Channel Video
A pivotal early work by Ed Atkins, one of the most exciting contemporary artists working today. Made in 2012, Atkins’s Material Witness OR A Liquid Cop is an important early example of the trademark virtuosity – in the realms of computer animation, editing, sound design, and script – for which he is internationally celebrated. The film is the first of a pair of works made by Atkins for Tomorrow Never Knows, the first edition of the Jerwood/FVU Awards. Launched in 2012, the Award is major annual opportunity for moving-image artists in the first five years of their practice. In the film, an apparitional, computer-generated figure sits in a television studio spouting a haunting, often graphic monologue as beautiful, bewildering imagery flickers and swirls around him.
White Screen is a collaborative project between FVU and The White Review. Supported by Arts Council England. The White Review’s participation is made possible by the support of Maureen Paley.
The Jerwood/FVU Awards are a collaboration between Jerwood Charitable Foundation and FVU. In association with CCA, Glasgow and University of East London.
Courtesy the artist and the Jerwood/FVU Awards
View on fvu.co.uk
WHITE SCREEN
A collaboration between The White Review and Film and Video Umbrella, White Screen is a new online initiative showcasing artists’ films alongside the best new writing.
The project selects films from Film and Video Umbrella’s extensive archive – available to watch online for one month only – accompanied by newly-commissioned essays. These texts are not intended as commentaries upon the films they accompany, but rather as explorations of shared themes, subjects or styles.
White Screen exemplifies the commitment of Film and Video Umbrella and The White Review to commissioning and supporting new art and writing.
A PROJECT BY
WITH THE SUPPORT OF
