'THE MUSEUM OF THE IMPERFECT PAST' by Mike Figgis - exhibition for 2nd Valencia Biennial of Art (2003)   Mike Figgis worked in a large apartment, ’Los Palacios’, in the centre of Valencia, with more than sixteen rooms connected by a series of corridors. Lavishly refurbished in the 18th century, it has been uninhabited since the 1960’s. It contained its own original chapel, kitchens, salons and walled garden. Four larger rooms hosted the video installations while the smaller rooms featured still imagery. The entire space was used for sound imagery, linking the various elements together on an interactive tour through the space. Placing 'The Museum of the Imperfect Past’ within the Biennial of the ’Ideal City’ was rather like exploring the conscience of the ideal city, something that everybody should be ready to embrace and investigate, but more importantly something that every ’Ideal City’ needs.

			installation elements images video gallery

	'one night I had the following dream' The dream was in three parts. Part one - A silent film was screening. I cannot recall the exact images, just the fact that it was a film without sound. But it was cohesive and did mean something. Part two - There was no imagery at all, just sound - again I cannot recall the sound itself, just the fact of the sound. Again, it had its meaning. Part three - The silent film and the sound were put together to create something entirely new. Neither of the elements had, in themselves changed, but the combination created an entirely new meaning.   "The relationship between dream state and film is very strong. What is very clear to me is that the sound is stronger than the visual. My installation will be a deconstruction of cinema, my cinema. Cinema is always dealing with the past." Mike Figgis

	VIDEO INSTALLATION ELEMENTS:   FREEWAY CONVERSATIONS A series of short films which took place on the 101 Freeway in LA, all shot at night. Actors and film people drive the freeway and tell stories about themselves and Hollywood. Some are well known, some are not. The stories are tragic and mundane. Aside from English, the stories are told in Chinese, Swedish, Spanish and French.   SLEEP - IN THE DARK Over two nights a group of people are filmed sleeping and waking in the night using unique digital night-vision cameras. Sometimes beautiful, sometimes worrying, sleep is a time when everybody is released into their own worlds. Is everything viewed differently in the dark? Is it our truer self being revealed under the cover of darkness?   THE WAR ROOM Figgis has always wanted to do a piece on war - being in LA over the last weeks before the US military action in Iraq has given a new impetus to the concept exploring people’s visual perception of a ’modern’ and ’just’ war amongst others.   Sound elements: MUSIC - SOUNDTRACK - CHANCE One of the reasons Figgis became interested in film was through sound. Whilst having a love-hate relationship with it now, he created film soundtracks for the installation. This were operated on a chance basis and allowed for the possibility of accidents but most importantly created an environment in which nothing was entirely fixed and each event was altered and different when repeated. Sound challenged image and image challenged sound. It was perfect to accompany, illustrate, guide and surprise with out being subservient to the image itself.

	A FEW IMAGES FROM THE INSTALLATION

	A FEW IMAGES FROM THE CATALOGUE

	THE YELLOW SUITCASE ACTORS   In the late stages of work on 'The Museum of the Imperfect Past’ Mike was approached by two drama schools in Valencia, to see if they could participate in any way in the installation. It was decided that they could play a fundamental role in the Biennial in general, by performing street theatre designed by Mike - during the Biennial months. This raised awareness specifically for our Museum, but also brought the Biennial to the streets and raised public awareness. Performing three times a week in a designated area of the city centre, be it in the main squares, the old fruit market, the beach or in front of the local government office, they had to stand out and attracted attention. The following images are of the filming of their first public performance.

	VIDEO GALLERY