Doug Aitken: Into the Sun

Filmed and photographed in the dusty sound stages and film sets of Bombay, Into the Sun focuses on the frenetic activity of the 24 hour a day film making machine that is 'Bollywood,' relentlessly churning out simple, escapist, formulaic narratives for an insatiable and addicted audience. These films are mainlines into the collective consciousness of a country and represent the dreams and nightmares of an entire culture. The films of Bollywood are created with such overwhelming efficiency that they effectively become pure communication with the audience. Although set in Bombay, Into the Sun provokes haunting questions about the perfection of communication and desire.

The installation of Into the Sun explores the mechanism of this accelerated media by creating an immersion narrative where the viewer achieves a complete and interactive involvement on a multisensorial but also emotional level. Raw canvas walls will line the gallery space and red earth will cover the floor, mirroring that of the Bombay sound stages. As the viewer enters the darkened room, the work will be seen on all four walls but as night falls, the blackout curtain will be drawn back, exposing the work to the street. The sound design will alternate between the recurrent hum of a running film projector with Bombay street noises, silence, constructed sounds and both Indian and electronic music. Like the film world it explores, Into the Sun, will be screened twenty-four hours per day.