It is unusual to find an exhibition almost entirely made up of film, but the current Langlands and Bell show at the University of Edinburgh’s Talbot Rice Gallery is packed with 13 projections, filling every possible space.
Ben Langlands and Nikki Bell are most famous for their architectural models of buildings, such as the Millbank Penitentiary, focusing on invisible controls which govern society. This display, however, specifically presents film and animation from the last 30 years of the duo’s career. Despite the sometimes confusing nature of the films, it is fascinating to map the development of media over the last three decades, from the charm of the scratchy Borough Market (1986), overlaid with cheesy 80s intro music, to the interactive installation, The House of Osama Bin Laden (2003), a computer generated landscape, controlled by joystick at the hands of the viewer.
The compact Talbot Rice has taken a confident step in displaying these films in close proximity with no partitions. Viewers are invited to explore and compare works, with overlaying sound and multiple viewpoints. Instead of being trapped in a dark room with a single projection, we are encouraged to travel between the pieces and view the exhibition most importantly as a retrospective.
For most the highlight will be Zardad’s Dog (2003), a controversial and un-translated documentary film made when the artists were working in Afghanistan. However, earlier films The Kitchen (1978) and Ooh La La! Les Legumes (1979) should be given equal attention for their detailed anthropological insight into specific environments and unique studies of human behaviour.
Taking an hour out in this space is an enlightening experience which promotes confrontations and reflections made all the more powerful through the use of new media and the need for viewer interaction.