Introduction
Stinking Dawn is an exhibition in the form of a production process for a full-length feature film by Gelatin and Liam Gillick. The collaboratively developed and improvised experimental film will examine the limits of human tolerance in the face of oppression, political crisis and excessive self-delusion. It follows the destiny of four privileged young people who grow up at a time of crisis and move through various stages of development and self-reflection towards a final moment of collapse.
During the shooting period (July 4–13), the artists were joined by many artist friends and long term collaborators. All visitors to the exhibition were potential extras inside a sprawling modifiable stage setting—a faux-stone toy-block architecture of colonnades, amphitheaters, night-club interiors, and a prison. After the film shoot, the postproduction begins. The exhibition for the remaining duration shows the looming grey and graffitied remnants of the production. A large slideshow of photographs is projected within the monumental setting providing insights on the filming process. Musical instruments in the space haphazardly play while visitors are able to walk among the tattered sculptural traces of the scenery that gave the film its peculiarly striking mise-en-scène.