Play Dead Real Time

An avantgarde film presented as part of an exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art From MoMAs 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 Gordons 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