Catalogue > At random

Kathy Acker`s writing, and a seminal portrait of her taken by intersex photographer Del LaGrace Volcano, provide a lens through which to explore trans subjectivity and the queering of cinema. Pol Merchan`s hybrid doc fluidly moves from the documentation of the punk era to a more performative exploration of gender.

Pol Merchan was born in Lleida, Spain, in 1980. In 2007, he obtained a degree in Fine Arts from the University of Barcelona and in 2014 an MA in Art in Context from the Berlin University of Arts. In 2017 he won the Xposed Queer Short Film Fund and the Research Fellowship from the Senate Department for Culture and Europe in Berlin, and in 2019 the Arbeitsstipendium from the Stiftung Kunstfonds. His experimental audio-visual work explore visual semantics and filmic practices, deconstructing technics of conventional filmmaking. Merchan uses the camera as an extension of his eye and body, making intimate works that emphasize the tactility of the film. His work has been seen internationally in art institutions including Museo Reina Sofia - Madrid, Anthology Film Archives - New York, Contemporary Culture Centre of Barcelona, The Institute of Contemporary Arts London, The Art Centre of La Panera - Lleida, Contemporary Art Centre - Vilnius, Beursschouwburg - Brussels, as well as at numerous Internationally Film Festivals such Hot Docs Canadian Documentary Festival, Ann Arbor Film Festival, Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival, Int. Kurz Fillmtage Oberhausen, Festival de Cine Guanajuato, Sao Paulo Short Film Festival, Stuttgarter Filmwinter - Festival for Expanded Media or Barcelona Independent Film Festival l'Alternativa.