Aernout Mik

Dutch artist Aernout Mik's moving-image installations meld filmmaking, sculpture and architecture into experiences that are at once compelling and unsettling, irrational yet plausible. The artist designs and constructs architectural spaces that hold his moving images, making the viewer's physical relationship to the piece a critical component of the overall experience. By interrogating the most basic ideas of narrative and reality and rejecting classical cinematic ideals, Mik creates works that are rich in allusion but subversive of codes. Published to accompany the artist's first U.S. retrospective, this volume is a vivid exploration of Mik's work and process. Laurence Kardish, MoMA's Senior Curator in the Department of Film, situates Mik within the history of documentary and nonnarrative cinema, while Michael Taussig, Professor of Anthropology at Columbia University, investigates the ways in which the artist's work changes the way we see reality while simultaneously reinforcing the norms of visual culture. Abundantly illustrated with stills and the artist's own drawings, the book also features detailed descriptions of the installations, an exhibition history and a bibliography, making it the most comprehensive volume on the artist available in English.