Catalogue > At random

Loosely constructed from a collage of literary references, filmic vocabulary, broken-up narratives and improvisations, ‘The Protagonist’ is a work where the construction of a main character for a film is treated as an event for camera, a happening that becomes the film itself. Shot in two different interiors (an empty cinema and a house-party turning into a karaoke night) and constructed through six interconnected scenes, the film uses the tropes normally associated with the basic shaping of a narrative persona - looks, behaviours, personal details, surroundings etc. - and turns them all into the only available storyline to be followed. In an empty cinema, two unnamed men discuss the treatment for a possible narrative. Their abstract discussions are continuously interrupted by a second, parallel sequence: the movements and behaviours of a series of men and women abstractly portrayed while drinking, dancing, singing and carelessly chatting during a karaoke party.
The juxtaposition of the two scenes is an open proposal: mere rhythmic punctuation for the previous sequence, it might as well become a cypher for the two men’s unfinished storytelling. The film never starts, its constant deferral unveiling its basic mechanics, rendering them the only possible matter of interest: a story about the making of a character, about the becoming of a protagonist.

Francesco Pedraglio is an artist working with writing, performance, film and installation. He was born in Como (Italy) in 1981. Recent performances and exhibitions include: Norma Mangione Gallery, Turin (2015); The Physics Room, Christchurch, New Zealand (2015); Kunsthalle Wien (2015); DropCity, Newcastle (2015); MAZ-Museo de Zapopan, Mexico (2014); CCA Glasgow (2014); Hayward Gallery, London (2014); Rowing, London (2013); Jeu de Paume (2013), Kunsthalle Basel (2012); ICA (2012); Auto Italia South East (2012); Galerie Kamm, Berlin (2012); Hollybush Gardens, London (2011), The National Portrait Gallery (2011); Wysing Arts Centre, Cambridge (2011). His first novel "A man in a room spray painting a fly" was published by Book Works in summer 2014. Also in 2014 he was also the co-editor of the anthology of artists writings "Cadavere Quotidiano", published by X-TRA (Los Angeles). "The Object Lessons", a novella made in collaboration with Nina Beier and Marie Lund, was published by Mousse in 2012. Pedraglio is a founding member of the London based curatorial initiative FormContent (www.formcontent.org).