At Land
by Maya Deren
Artist
Maya Deren
(Ukraina, 1917 - 1961)
Alternate Title
- På land
Date1944
Medium16 mm transferred to digital video, b&w, silent
Dimensions15:00 min
ClassificationMoving Images
Credit LinePurchase 2024 funded by The Gerard Bonnier Foundation
Countries
On view
StockholmRoomGallery 01:1
Object NumberMOM/2024/5
CollectionsThe Gerard Bonnier Collection, Recent Acquisitions
About the artworkMaya Deren, born in Kiev, was an avant-garde filmmaker, choreographer, dancer, film theorist, poet, lecturer, writer and photographer. The 1944 experimental film At Land depicts a strange journey undertaken by a mysterious figure, played by Deren herself. The sea washes her ashore, a symbolic birth, and during what the artist calls “a mythological journey through the twentieth century” she encounters both other people and other versions of herself. The film explores the individual’s quest to relate to a shifting and incoherent universe, and her struggle to preserve her identity and uniqueness. Through Deren’s innovative movement techniques and seamless editing, the film constructs a captivating dream world that challenges our perception of time and space.