Akomfrah's show consists of two videos; Vertigo Sea, which was shown at the Venice Biennial in 2015; and Tropikos, a new work. Vertigo Sea is phenomenal, incredibly beautiful, haunting and enveloping. It is a three channel film made up of archival film and photographs, it references Herman Melville's Moby Dick, but the re is much more to it than that. The film looks at the sea and humanity's relationship to it, as a space to travel from one country or situation to another; and as a secret, lawless place where animals and humans can be hunted and exploited. The audience is shown the majesty and awe-inspiring beauty of the sea and it's potential as a space of horror, desperation and suffering. Vertigo Sea is not unpleasant to watch though, it holds you, drawing out feeling and empathy and seducing the audience.
Tropikos is much less grand and seductive than Vertigo Sea, it appears to holds more of a narrative and therefore wants 'interpreting'. It's a little like a silent period drama; all the dialogue has been cut and we're left with the in-between shots, but that's not quite right, because the work feels like a container for huge ideas and thought; the characters are trying to imbue the audience with these ideas. It's big and heavy, worth absorbing and considering.
I was lucky enough to see John Akomfrah in Conversation with Anthony Downey last weekend. It was a brilliant talk, both Akomfrah and Downey were eloquent, interesting and completely generous with sharing their ideas and thoughts with the audience. The questions/comments from the audience were similarly generous, making the whole thing a complete delight.
Vertigo Sea is open at the Arnolfini, Bristol until the 10th April 2016.
