Who am
I? It’s a question most of us have asked ourselves at least once in our
lifetime. We are trying to identify ourselves and consequently relate to our environment.
This mental process is the subject of the film History’s Future by Fiona Tan. It features a man (Mark O’Halloran)
who literally does not know who he is due to memory loss caused by being beat
up. The movie shows him traveling and taking on different personalities which
lead him into diverse situations.
Fiona Tan, History's Future (film still), 2015.
Amsterdam
based artist Fiona Tan mostly works in photography and film. She is well known
for her use of archival material, like her Vox
Populi series (2004-2012), a collection of found photographs of unknown
people.
Tan
questions the role of the observer and the observed. In History’s Future this is demonstrated by changes of perspective in
the narrative. Sometimes we follow the perspective of an omniscient narrator
and other times we suppose we see things through the eyes of the main
character. This shifting of perspective makes it possible for us to understand
some images as thoughts or memories of the protagonist. It shows Tan’s interest
in memory and the creativity of the human mind in remembering events of the past.
Fiona Tan, History's Future (film still), 2015.
Time is
another important aspect of this film; it is set in recent past, made clear by
the archival images from actual events. Obviously past and present alternate each
other through memories or television images in the film. However time is also
present in a more abstract way; your past shapes you and leads you into a
future. The movie seems to investigate what this means for all of us after the
turbulent times we had. The protagonist could be understood as a representation
of society.
Fiona Tan, History's Future (film still), 2015.
Not
remembering who he is brings the hero to assume different personalities and
behaviors, which in turn influences the way other people respond to him. Thus
he finds himself in divergent situations, like lying to a woman to have a one
night stand with her and aggression caused by drinking. I think it is here that
Tan´s references to the Garden of Earthly
Delights (1505-1510) by Hieronymus Bosch become significant. The meaning of
this painting is not entirely clear, but a number of scholars believe it to be
a warning for immoral conduct since it is accompanied by representations of
paradise and hell. Tan might, in a similar fashion, set people to think about
what their behavior does to their environment and themselves.
Hieronymus Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights (center panel), 1505-1510, Oil on wood.
With this film Tan explores the current human
condition. She leaves her audience a little unsatisfied for her main character
does not get his memories back, maybe because the search for identity never
really stops. We continually need to determine our position in relation to
other people and developments within society, as our actions decide our future.
History's Future will be screened on 5 and 6 February at the IFFR. For more information on Fiona Tan: www.fionatan.nl Film stills: Courtesy of the press office of the International Film Festival Rotterdam.
