Dara Friedman’s PLAY on view at Gavin Brown’s Enterprise, New York

One view of Dara Friedman’s PLAY. With this new work, Friedman engages with actors and their ability to receive and transmit projected desires, while at the same time laying bare theatrical and cinematic devices with Brechtian pleasure. Created during Friedman’s residency at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, PLAY was filmed at the museum’s Billy Wilder Theater, in a hippie shack in Topanga Canyon, and on the streets of Los Angeles. PLAY marks an important climax in Friedman’s recent work, completing a trilogy of works with Musical (2007-8) and Dancer (2011). In Musical, singers catch people unaware in the street of New York, giving voice to their thoughts, while the city of Miami sets the stage for Dancer. Together the films show a rhythm of life—showmanship and humility, aggression and tenderness, poise and wildness, all in equal measure. PLAY is on view at Gavin Brown’s Enterprise, 620 Greenwich Street, New York. Photo Juliana Balestin