Sema Bekirovic’ (1977, NL) latest film ‘The Others’ shows us a dark forest: a picnic plaid is covered with all kinds of luxurious food, as if ready for a leisurely picnic. Suddenly, birds, mice and wild boars take their turns at feasting on the food, while destroying the rug and tableware. Bekirovic documented this process with a surveillance camera until all the food had been eaten after a few weeks.
Bekirovic works with the tension between obtaining and letting go of control, like she demonstrated with her solo show ‘How to stop falling’ at Galerie Diana Stigter in 2008. In her work, Bekirovic creates a possibility for something to occur and then lets aspects of chance and coincidence decide how her work will develop. This is one of the reasons why animals play an important part within her oeuvre. Her former work ‘Koet’ as well as her latest film ‘The Others’ (2010-11, 190 min.) shows aspects of chance coming from the unpredictable behavior of animals.
Further, ‘The Others’ recalls famous characters of Walt Disney cartoons, in which animals often are 'humanized’ and in which it is normal to see a bear eating a chocolate cake, even with a knive and fork. But the animals in ‘The Others’ are real; we cannot project any table manners or other human behavior on them.
Moreover, ‘The Others’ refers to the tradition of still life painting. A closer look at most still life paintings reveals insects hidden in the fruit or fish, or petals of flowers on the verge of breaking off. Like ‘The Others’, a still life painting is often used as a symbol of transition and temporariness.
