The third film in Riar Rizaldi’s Tech-terra trilogy, Becquerel (2021) integrates speculative fiction with cinema to explore ecological crisis and colonialism in the artist’s native Indonesia. The film is set in an alternative version of the nation, where the Sun is artificially generated by nuclear technology and rest is outlawed in order to acclimatise humans to this unnatural ecological rhythm. A philosopher-child named Sajad Ali wanders through the island looking to find a place to sleep; we follow Ali as he comes into contact with apparatuses of the thorium mining industry, emphasising energy as a vital force shaping daily life and other aspects of a rapidly changing environment. Complementing the film is a metafictional text authored by Ali, presented alongside the video installation as an extended reflection on sleep and rest in our present moment.
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Riar Rizaldi (b. 1990, Bandung) is an artist and filmmaker based in Yogyakarta. His practice focuses on relationships between science, technology, labour and nature, engaging with genre cinema and theoretically informed fiction. His work has been shown at numerous international film festivals, including the Berlinale, Locarno, IFFR and FIDMarseille. Solo exhibitions include Riar Rizaldi: Mirage, Gasworks, London (2024); Riar Rizaldi: Ghosts, Monsters and Cinematic Elsewheres, ICA, London (2024); Riar Rizaldi: Fossilis, Z33, Hasselt (2024). Group exhibitions include Doc Fortnight 2024, MoMA, New York (2024); the 81st Whitney Biennial, New York (2024); the 13th Taipei Biennial (2023).
EXHIBITED WORKS
Riar Rizaldi (b. 1990)
Becquerel, 2021
Single-channel video, 16:9, colour, 19:08 min, stereo
Wooden board with wheat-pasted poster, camping chair
Variable dimensions
Courtesy of the artist
