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“Realms of the Real”Season 12
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The four internationally acclaimed artists in “Realms of the Real” conduct extensive historical research, examine the nuances of culture and identity, and explore the boundaries of art and science to create worlds of fantasy and fiction that expand our understanding of ourselves and our world. Taking a playful approach to ambitious performance, video, and sculpture, Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson and his community of collaborators create artworks that are equally profound and absurd, searching for answers in timeless cultural forms. From her Los Angeles studio, artist Candice Lin works with materials that range from indigo and cochineal to urine and flesh-eating beetles, investigating their historical and philosophical implications through her richly sensorial installations. Argentinian artist Tomás Saraceno collaborates with architects, sociologists, entomologists, arachnids, and more to create immersive works that propose ways of living in greater harmony with one another and our environment. Raised in Nigeria and based in the United States, artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby bends time and space through her intricately layered paintings, navigating the diverse geographies, cultures, and identities she inhabits to depict the complexities of diasporic experience. These four artists expand on the realities of shared history and experience to create fantastical and speculative worlds, offering new possibilities for culture, identity, and the future.
Credits
Director: Stephanie Wang-Breal. Executive Director: Tina Kukielski. Series Producer: Nick Ravich. Producer: Nan Sandle. Editor: Colin Nusbaum. Director Of Photography: James Fideler. Associate Producer: Andrea Chung. Associate Curator: Jurrell Lewis. Design & Animation: Momentist, Inc. Composer: Andrew Orkin.
Additional Cinematography: Magnús Ingvar Bjarnason, Josh Flavell, Jason Lewis, Gatherer Media, Tyler McPherron, Hákon Sverrisson.
Assistant Camera: Guðjón Hrafn, Cecelia Hubbard, Leví Baltasar Jóhannesson, Younes Labdi, Jake O’Connor, Dean Snodgrass. Gaffer & Electric: Viktor Orri Andersen, Pablo Lopez, Vincent Riediger, Bram van Woudenberg. KEY GRIP: Rishab Chandra. Location Sound: Benedikt Árnason, Agnar Friðbertsson, Moritz Monorfalvi, Sara Sandoval. Field Producer: Becky Pederson. Fixers: Andri Freyr, Bernd Gedeck, Tim Stone, Kitty Von-Sometime. Production Assistants: Evan Hamilton, Tristan Schneider. Projectionist: Michael Allen.
Additional Art21 Staff: Makda Amdetsyon, Lauren Barnett, Hannah DeGarmo, Lolita Fierro, Ian Forster, Grace LeCates, Emma Nordin, Jessica Svenson, Noor Tamari, Emilia Copeland Titus, Nora Wimmer. Interns: Candice Cirilo, Emma Kanne, Billie Lam, Asante Marie Owusu-Brafi, Aarya Silwal, Maria Syville.
Post-Production Supervisors: Amelia Garner, Jennifer Wanamaker. Video Post-Production Service: Cut + Measure. Video Post-Production Producer: Alex Laviola. Colorist: Chris Ramey: Online & Conform: David Gauff. Post-Production Coordinator: Mary Grace Duffy. Audio Post-Production Service: Post Romantic. Re-Recording Mixer & Sound Editor: Gisela Fullà-Silvestre. Assistant Sound Editor: Dan Weisselberg: Audio Description & Captions: Sasha Hecht, Andre Kelman. Quality Control: Adam Stout:
Narration: Louise Eliasof. Additional Music: Trey Toy. Additional Video Editor: Regina Spurlock. Visual Effects: Daniel de Graaf, Isaiah King. Visual Effects Artists: Logan Cuddemi, Mike Houston. Assistant Editors: Isabella Morelli Avilán, Stephanie Cen, Sarah Yi Fineman, Michelle Hanks.
Artwork Courtesy: Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Ragnar Kjartansson, Candice Lin, Tomás Saraceno, David Zwirner Gallery, François Ghebaly Gallery, i8 Gallery, Luhring Augustine Gallery, Tonya Bonakdar Gallery.
Archival Material: Aerocene Foundation, Alice Studio Project, Arachnophilia, Canal Projects, Daniella Baptista, Tiffany Edwards, Ry Francis, Ian Byers Gamber, Þorvaldur Gröndal, Robert Heishman, The Here and There Collective, Jameel Arts Centre, Lamay Photo, Leeum Museum of Art, The Logan Center at the University of Chicago, Ari Magg, Awa Mally, Christopher McDonald, Mirador torre Glòries, National Museum of Korea, NOAA, Rafael Pinho, Red Brick Art Museum, The Shed, Viðar Hákon Söruson, Hördur Svenisson, Gísli Galdur Þorgeirsson, Hlynur A Vilmundarson, Walker Art Center, Pierre Ware.
Additional Music Courtesy: Belinda by Grady Harrell & Fred Wesley (ASCAP & BMI)
Legal Counsel: Donaldson Callif Perez.
Special Thanks: The Art21 Board of Trustees, Markús Þór Andrésson, Guðrún Ásmundsdóttir, Lars Behrendt, Anne Carson, Justin Crosby, Sophie Friedman-Pappas, Lilja Gunnarsdóttir, Shaun Johnson, Davíð Þór Jónsson, Andre Keichian, Sarah Kisner, Roger Lin, Sarah Mackenzie-Smith, Gene Aguilar Magaña, Charles West McNulty, Claudia Melendez, Yotam Menda-Levy, Roland Muhlethaler, Dane Nakama, Max Parnell, Roksana Pirouzmand, Mike Richards, Ingibjörg Sigurjónsdóttir, Maristella Svampa, Gan Uyeda, Valeria Tizol Vivas.
Filming Locations Provided By: Agriculture University of Iceland; Berliner Festspiele; David Zwirner, Los Angeles; i8 Gallery; Jameel Arts Centre; The Huntington; Monash University; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Sudurland College.
Series Created By: Susan Dowling and Susan Sollins.
Original Production Funding Provided By: The Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation, Lambent Foundation, Agnes Gund, Melony and Adam Lewis, National Endowment for the Arts, Teiger Foundation, Sarah Arison, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Dealer Tire, Arts, Equity, & Education Fund™, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, Elyse and Lawrence B. Benenson, Stephanie and Tim Ingrassia, Tim and Lauren Schrager Family Foundation.
This program is a production of Art21, Inc. which is solely responsible for its content.
©2026 Art21, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Closed captionsAvailable in English, German, Romanian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Italian
Through the Art21 Translation Project, multilingual audiences from around the globe can contribute translations, making Art21 films more accessible worldwide.
Interested in showing this film in an exhibition or public screening? To license this video please visit Licensing & Reproduction.
Descriptive Audio Segments from "Realms of the Real"
Season 12
Season 12