wysiwyg

The Hague Contemporary Art Weekend

Six of Wands

Event

28/06/2024 –

– 30/11

In an effort to enchant the garden of 1646 during The Hague Contemporary Art, screening platform wysiwyg was invited to delve into the archive to curate a short film program inspired by humor and mysticism.

Appropriately timed around the setting of the sun, the program started in daylight and grew more delirious as it got darker, ending around sunset on 22:09. Initiating this ritualistic short film program were the slightly innocent yet disorienting endeavors of twin police officers Steve and Eric Cohen in Tova Mozard’s Two Cops (2019). We continued the evening with a tree tripping on hallucinogens, disruptive plastic interventions, and a Frisian cowboy on a metaphysical quest to set things right. By this time, the sun had disappeared behind the horizon as we transcended into the supernatural realm with Lisa Jeannin and Rolf Schuurmans’ Hokus Pokus and Rowan Moonlion’s Fever Dreams of a Hermit.

The door opened at 20:30 and the screening started at 21:00.

Film program
1— Two Cops (2019)
Tova Mozard — 30 min.
English language
Aimlessly wandering the woods of the Hollywood Hills, twin police officers Steve and Eric Cohen practice their roles as civil servants with the innocence of two boys playing dress-up. Between getting lost and acting out several fictional scenarios while contemplating whether to self-identify as the Los Angeles Police Department or the LAPD, visually arresting shots of smoke-filled skies and distant forest fires pull you back to the harsh realities of life. Two Cops offers a mix of humorous absurdity and calm introspection that could come straight out of a Quentin Dupieux movie.

2 — Man or Tree (2021)
Varun Raman & Tom Hancock — 4 min.
English language
Rooted in the wilderness of Cheshire, England, a tree with an Irish accent questions whether it is, in fact, a man tripping on hallucinogens—wait… that’s not… Let’s try that again. A man tripping on hallucinogens wakes up to find himself rooted in the ground of Bickerton Hill in Cheshire, England, realizing he turned into a tree—wait… is that even right? Maybe… Ah, I’ve got it now… Mark Renton, deeply immersed in the Edinburgh drug scene, tries to clean up and get out, despite the allure of the drugs and influence of friends. Wait… Isn’t that the synopsis of Trainspotting?

3 — Crooked Cowboy (2021)
Hannes Schievink — 12 min.
Dutch with English subtitles
The highly saturated visual treatment and camp set-design of Crooked Cowboy feel like a Lynchian Teletubbies episode for adults—complete with the signature faux-grass and magical materialization of characters. Similarly to the iconic show for toddlers, Crooked Cowboy compels you to keep watching and listening even if you’re not quite sure why. In it, artist and filmmaker Hannes Schievink situates a young cowboy amidst the Frisian pastures as he embarks on a metaphysical quest to set right everything that feels askew.

4 — Afterlives (2022)
Michael Heindl — 3 min.
No Language
Forget about practical jokes and get acquainted with the conceptual jokes of artist Michael Heindl. In Afterlives, various plastic waste objects are reintroduced to the environment they came from, only to disrupt everyday processes of urban living in hilariously obstructive ways. A piece of hose fitted over the spout of a fountain directs the water flow to run all over the square rather than into its basin; pieces of styrofoam packaging jammed into the conical speakers on a public street muddle the sound. These short bursts of innocent rebellion offer a poignant perspective on the destructive nature of plastic, all while being hilariously funny.

5 — Hokus Pokus (2011)
Lisa Jeannin & Rolf Schuurmans — 11 min.
No Language
A sorcerous, philosophical stop-motion skeleton diligently works to construct a portal in the heart of the woods. His mystical ambition to enter a parallel reality is enhanced by the obscure darkness of the woods and the swaying back-and-forth of perennial growth that surrounds his construction site. The film morphs into an abstract experimental short where the four seasons live right around the corner from each other and logic no longer seems to be the status quo.

6 — Fever Dreams of a Hermit (2022)
Rowan Moonlion — 6 min.
English language
Like a deck of Tarot cards that came to life in the middle of an otherworldly dark forest, the backdrop to Fever Dreams of a Hermit can be best described as a dream from the mind of a woodland druid. The characters in this surreal scenario, captured through distorted camera perspectives and uncomfortable close-ups, engage in all kinds of occult-like rituals centered around various forms of caregiving. The film has a friendly yet probing way of tapping straight into your subconscious mind, prompting you to ask the question: How do you care, if at all?

Info

About wysiwyg (what you see is what you get) is an organisation from The Hague (Netherlands) that creates space for artists with film-making practices. Through experimentation with events, programming, and dialogue, wysiwyg strengthens the playful exchange between artists, audiences and works. By weaving local and international networks, they add a stronger position for artists with film-making practices in the cinematic landscape. wysiwyg is run by Ruben Verkuylen, Mike Kokken and Julian Doove.