For her third exhibition at Albarrán Bourdais Madrid, Angelika Markul presents the new film project “Haunted House”, which explores the Medieval Castle of Fougeret, widely known to be the most haunted place in France. Alongside the film are a new series of wax sculptures inspired by the fauna of the film, which extend the screening onto the physical space.
With this new installation, Markul continues to engage with themes such as the memory of a place, time, creation and destruction, mixing science and fiction to construct myths that speak to fundamental questions. The film invites the viewer to wander through the corridors of a mysterious castle, reviving the childhood fears and fantasies for a monster hiding beneath the bed, a pair of eyes watching us in the darkness of the night, but also a sudden love for a frog, or the desperate hope of meeting a bunny in a hurry.
Said to keep the memory of those who have gone through it, haunted houses have been the source to endless ghost stories. Using the ghostliest of mediums, cinema, Markul weaves links between past and present.
In the manner of a tale, “Haunted House” explores the interior of a world of wonders inhabited by fantastical myths and beings. Is it the home of a prince turned into a monster, waiting for the coming of love to free him from his curse, or is it the resting place of a princess destined to eternal sleep? Numerous dreamy possibilities can be perceived through the camera angles, freed from the rules of gravity, positioning the visitors as the protagonists of the fable unfolding before their eyes.
Accompanying the images is a musical composition by Wojciech Puś, which is made of a crickets’ symphony or the melody of an enchanted piano – imagined and played by Angelika Markul herself during the shooting. The soundtrack evokes the coexistence of fear and wonder, which are characteristic of childhood’s imaginary wanderings, and serves as an invitation to surrender to a multisensory dreamlike universe.
With “Haunted House”, Markul builds a mystical world that brings together the audiovisual and the sculptural, imaginary creatures and material space, dream and reality, immersing the visitor into the fantastical realm of childhood.
Photo Courtesy of Albarrán Bourdais
