Centaur – Mensch und Pferd. Eine Filminstallation

In the organizer's words:

While equestrian sport is being celebrated this summer with the World Equestrian Games in Aachen, the Ludwig Forum is presenting a thematically corresponding film installation. Under the title Centaur (Centaur), a hybrid of horse and human from Greek mythology, two short films will be shown on a large projection screen in the central exhibition hall of the museum, which revolve around the theme of man and horse in very different ways.

The title is taken from the eponymous film Centaur (2020) by German-Iranian artist and filmmaker Yalda Afsah (*1983), which deals vividly with the complex structures of human-animal relationships. Between care and control, identification and manipulation, the film provides intensive documentary insights into the microcosm of horse training. As an intimate observer of the interaction between humans and horses, the artist takes a look at dressage, a not uncontroversial form of domestication, and raises controversial questions: Who has control over whom? Who directs, who follows?

The Swiss artist duo Marianne Halter (*1970) and Mario Marchisella (*1972) approach the topic in a humorous and poetic way in Horses over Meadows (2014). The short film shows a breakneck ride on a bicycle: a man in a black suit rides down a hill, accompanied by the clattering of hooves and the neighing of horses coming from a loudspeaker attached to the bike. The absurd image of a cyclist with a wildly blaring loudspeaker is inevitably and powerfully preceded by the image of a large herd of horses galloping past the viewer. The artist Marianne Halter and the artist and musician Mario Marchisella realize their joint works from their preoccupation with space and action, sound and image. Based on everyday actions and places, they play with breaks in sensory signals - as here between image and sound - to open up new associations.

The film installation takes place as part of the Aachen World Cup Special.

Curated by Esther Boehle.