video still from Hustle in Hand, 2014
HD video, color, sound, 10’20’’
courtesy SHAHRYAR NASHAT; Rodeo Gallery, Istanbul; Silberkuppe, Berlin, Museen Dahlem

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This is a still from a recent video (click on the still to watch it) by the Berlin-based artist SHAHRYAR NASHAT (b.1975), called Hustle in Hand (2014). This video is the base of his current installation presented at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris at the moment.

‘Hustle in Hand’ (2014) revolves around secret negotiations carried out between two characters, only their torsos visible in the frame. Money, food, appearances, consumption: the viewer is pulled into a round of transactions, like a rumination on our society in which art occupies a coveted position. The film’s rhythm is suddenly interrupted by the appearance of a green polyhedron that, once licked by one of the mysterious protagonists, becomes golden yellow, a magical event accompanied by an intense swelling of violin music*.

➝SHAHRYAR NASHAT, Lauréat du Prix Lafayette 2013, is on view at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris until November 23, 2014

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*from the Palais de Tokyo’s press release

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