LB°18 Artists

ARKIV

Beatrice Gibson

Beatrice Gibson (b. 1978, London) is a filmmaker and artist based in London.

Two sisters who are not sisters, two pregnancies, a two-seater car, a beauty queen, a poodle. A presidential election with the result that another fascist has been brought into power – this time in Brazil. A crime drama without a crime. Deux Soeurs Qui Ne Sont Pas Soeurs [Two Sisters Who Are Not Sisters] is a dreamlike exploration of community, responsibility, fertility, ethics and the future. Deux Soeurs Qui Ne Sont Pas Soeurs is based on an original script written by Gertrude Stein in 1929 just as fascism began to gain momentum in Europe. Gibson’s film also takes place in Paris, though almost exactly a century later, at a time of similar social and political unrest. With a cast of close friends and, for Gibson, important influences – the poet Alice Notley, the artists Adam Christensen and Ana Vaz, the educator Diocouda Diaoune among others – Gibson engages Stein’s interest in autobiography and repetition.

The film explores feminism not only as a subject but also as a method. Both as a fictional thriller and testimony to collective representation, Deux Soeurs Qui Ne Sont Pas Soeurs suggests empathy and friendship as a means of action during increasingly turbulent times. The music in the film is composed by Laurence Crane to correspond to the repetitions, recurrences and dualities also found in Stein’s script. Deux Soeurs Qui Ne Sont Pas Soeurs was shot on 16mm by the artist’s friend and collaborator Ben Rivers.

Work

Deux Sœurs Qui Ne Sont Pas Soeurs, 2019
16mm cinemascope transferred to HD Video
21 min 55 sek

Location

Havremagasinet, Boden
21.11–14.2 2020