Overview

An avant-garde film presented as part of an exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art. From MoMA's catalog: "For the monumental installation Play Dead; Real Time, (director Douglas) Gordon arranged for a circus elephant to be transported to Gagosian Gallery, in New York City, where he filmed it obeying a series of commands (repeatedly lying down and then awkwardly struggling to rise). Like many of Gordon's protagonists, the elephant is subject to greater forces, beyond its controL Simultaneously presenting several different versions of the scene, in front and rear projections and on a monitor, the work depicts the event from a range of perspectives rather than from a single static viewpoint."