Deborah Schamoni

Located in the media room on the lower level of Museum Brandhorst, the film program “Coming Together in Parts” responds to and extends the themes of the exhibition “Future Bodies from a Recent Past—Sculpture, Technology, and the Body since the 1950s”—in terms of media, time, and content. "Coming Together in Parts" presents video works by artists who deal with the interaction of bodies and technologies as well as alternative narratives of the future. The film program takes place in two chapters.

The second chapter takes us through various seemingly post-apocalyptic times in which non-human actors—a desert, a dog, and a vampire—each play a leading role. The cinematic narratives of Sophia Al-Maria, Masha Godovannaya and Yong Xiang Li thwart not only our notions of time, but also traditional stories and myths. They open up alternative and more-than-human perspectives on our togetherness and antagonism on this planet—between companionship, dependency and exploitation.

Yong Xiang Li’s I’m Not in Love (How to Feed on Humans) (2020) is a combination of narrative film, romantic comedy, and music video. Through collaborative approaches and the freedom of DIY and low-budget production, it dusts off the negative lore of vampirism: Vampy—a 386-year-old vampire—strolls through the city in broad daylight. Instead of bloodthirsty transformation, his bite promises pleasure and long life. In Vampy’s symbiotic and polyamorous companionship with his three human lovers, the work questions the mechanisms of becoming monster and notions of love in a present characterized by hegemonies and dependencies.

Curated by Franziska Linhardt
Text: Museum Brandhorst, Munich