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Now

Detailed information about NOW including its conception, filming process and artistic significance.

Explore the groundbreaking work of Chantal Akerman, a pioneering Belgian filmmaker known for feminist & avant-garde cinema like 'Jeanne Dielman.' Discover her influential films and legacy.

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Total Price

$ 63

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Now

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Quick Facts

  • Movement: Experimental Film
  • Artist: Chantal Akerman
  • Influences:
    • Jean-Luc Godard
    • Michael Snow
  • Location: M+, Hong Kong
  • Notable elements or techniques: Multiple projections; Sound design; Desert landscapes
  • Medium: Seven-channel HD digital video installation
  • Year: 2015

Art Quiz

There is only one correct answer for each question.

Question 1:
What is the primary artistic style of Chantal Akerman’s installation ‘Now’?
Question 2:
The video installation utilizes multiple projections to create what kind of sensory experience for the viewer?
Question 3:
Where were the images captured for ‘Now’?
Question 4:
What is a key thematic element explored by Akerman in her film 'Je, tu, il, elle'?
Question 5:
What influences did Jean-Luc Godard and Michael Snow have on Chantal Akerman’s artistic approach?

Collectible Description

Chantal AkermanBorn in Brussels, Belgium, in 1950.She lives and works in Paris, France.With her film D’Est (1995), probing life in Eastern Europe after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Belgian filmmaker and artist Chantal Akerman transitioned into the field of visual arts by transposing into the gallery space her experiments on time, the image, and the spectator’s perspective. In 2002, she pursued this encounter between image and fragmented narrative with the installation From the Other Side, a documentary work about the journey of Mexican migrants across the US border. After exploring topics of territory and identity through these two projects, for her second participation at the Biennale di Venezia since 2001, Akerman presents NOW, a new video installation she describes as “on the edge of fiction.” Through multiple projections, this work mixes images of desert and seaside with a layered soundtrack that becomes a distant sound of fury. NASA aerial shots are projected on the ground in a space of poetry, adventure, and myth, a sea bordered by the desert on one side and urban areas on the other. The setting is the stage of today’s geopolitical world, one she describes as “a tragic space.” With this installation, the visitor is thrust into a multisensory experience that maximizes the contrast between the fullness of the images and the omnipresence of the soundtrack. In the middle of the configuration, swallowed by a wave, the curves of a sand dune and the horizon line are an integral part of a landscape which is somewhere between abstraction and figuration, between the near and the distant. Using fiction, experimental film, and documentary, Chantal Ackerman has been committed to her particular approach to cinema and art, one that is inspired by the French–Swiss filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard and the Canadian artist Michael Snow. Navigating freely between these disciplines, she has made more than forty films, documentaries, and video essays since 1968.

Artist Biography

Chantal Akerman: The Quiet Revolution of Observation

Chantal Akerman (born June 6, 1950, Brussels, Belgium—died October 5, 2015, Paris, France) was a Belgian filmmaker who explored the mundane details of ordinary life with a clear eye and a strong feminist sensibility. She directed over 40 films and created several art installations.

Akerman’s Jewish father, Jacques Akerman, spent World War II in hiding, while her mother, Natalia Liebel, was the only member of her Jewish family to survive Auschwitz. From a young age, Akerman and her mother were exceptionally close, and her mother encouraged her to pursue a career rather than marry young.

At age 18, Akerman entered the Institut national supérieur des arts du spectacle et des techniques de diffusion (INSATD), a Belgian film school. She dropped out during her first term to make the short film *Saute ma ville* (“Blow Up My City”), funding it by trading diamond shares on the Antwerp stock exchange.

Her formative encounter with Jean-Luc Godard’s *Pierrot le fou* (1965) ignited her passion for filmmaking and profoundly influenced her artistic vision. She subsequently absorbed the radical experimental techniques pioneered by Michael Snow, particularly his film *La région centrale*, recognizing their potential to dismantle conventional narrative structures.

Akerman's breakthrough came with *Je tu il elle* (1974), a film that tackled themes of sexuality and identity through the lens of female experience. However, it was *Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles* (1975) – arguably her magnum opus – which cemented her reputation as one of cinema’s most daring innovators.

This film, running an astonishing 201 minutes without interruption, meticulously documented the daily routine of a widowed mother performing repetitive tasks—cooking, cleaning, and engaging in part-time prostitution—to sustain herself. Akerman deliberately eschewed conventional editing and pacing, opting for long takes that mirrored the slow, monotonous rhythm of domestic life. Her intention was to challenge societal expectations surrounding femininity and to expose the hidden complexities within seemingly unremarkable moments.

*News from Home* (1976) continued Akerman’s exploration of female subjectivity by presenting a series of letters exchanged between her mother and herself—a poignant meditation on memory, loss, and familial bonds.

Throughout her career, Akerman consistently prioritized observation over storytelling, favoring minimalist aesthetics and rejecting melodrama. Her films are characterized by their unflinching honesty and their refusal to romanticize or embellish reality.

Akerman’s influence on feminist cinema is undeniable. Critics and scholars alike recognize her pioneering approach as a cornerstone of avant-garde filmmaking and a significant contribution to the broader discourse surrounding gender roles and representation in film.

In 2022, Sight & Sound magazine conducted a decadal poll of over 1,600 film critics and historians worldwide, ranking *Jeanne Dielman* as “The Greatest Film of All Time,” marking Chantal Akerman as the first woman to achieve this distinction. This accolade underscores her enduring legacy as a visionary filmmaker who reshaped cinematic conventions and captivated audiences with her uncompromising vision.

Her films remain powerful statements about female experience, challenging viewers to confront uncomfortable truths and reconsider their assumptions about everyday life.

chantal anne akerman

chantal anne akerman

1950 - 2015 , Belgium

Quick Facts

  • Artistic Movement Or Style: Avant-garde cinema
  • Artists Or Movements Influenced By This Artist: ['Feminist cinema']
  • Artists Who Influenced This Artist: ['Jean Luc Godard']
  • Date Of Birth: June 6, 1950
  • Date Of Death: October 5, 2015
  • Full Name: Chantal Anne Akerman
  • Nationality: Belgian
  • Notable Artworks:
    • Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
    • News from Home
    • I, You, He, She
  • Place Of Birth: Brussels, Belgium
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