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Jane and Louise Wilson – Undead Sun: We Put the World Before You

@ mima: Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art

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Jane and Louise Wilson examine the politics, architecture and technology of conflict through film, video and photography. This exhibition references optical and imaging innovations of the early twentieth century as well as the physical and psychological impact of mechanised warfare.

The show features two films: Undead Sun (2014) and We Put the World Before You, especially made for this occasion. The artists weave together archival material, animation and new footage to explore aerial surveillance, the development of early prosthetics, the role of women in wartime, and the use of hypnosis as a tool for communication.

The films are presented within structures that both reveal and conceal them from viewers moving around the gallery. A number of props and sculptures seen in one or both of the works dress the space, forming ghostly recurring motifs.

One hundred years since the First World War, airborne chemicals and equipment such as drones, which have origins in that era, continue to be employed in military campaigns. With these films, the artists ask us to think about the emotional cost of conflict.

This exhibition forms the second stage in a three-part project commissioned by Film and Video Umbrella (FVU) for the centenary of the First World War. The work has been made possible through partnerships with Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, Wolverhampton Art Gallery and IWM (Imperial War Museums) and support from Wellcome Trust, Artliner and Arts Council England. We Put the World Before You was made in collaboration with Caroline Wilkinson, Director, Face Lab, Liverpool John Moores University.

This exhibition forms the second stage in a three-part project commissioned by Film and Video Umbrella (FVU) for the centenary of the First World War. The work has been made possible through partnerships with IWM (Imperial War Museums) and Wolverhampton Art Gallery and support from Wellcome Trust, Artliner and Arts Council England.

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