AGHDRA

AGHDRA

Arthur Jafa
American, born 1960
2021
A 4K video by Arthur Jafa that stages a slow, immersive meditation on light, landscape, and time, using high-definition imagery and sound to evoke a spiritual, almost cosmic presence.
You'd first be struck by the razor-thin horizon and a blinding sun hovering over an almost ink-black, rocklike plain, where the light skims rough textures and creates a tense, vast stillness that feels both geological and otherworldly.
AGHDRA continues Jafa’s project of expanding the moving image’s emotional and political range, using monumental scale, prolonged attention, and sound to rethink cinematic sublime and to place Black visuality within contemporary experimental film.
Medium
4K video (black and white and color, sound)
Dimensions
1 hr. 14:59 min
Classification
Credit
Purchase
Accession
141.2024
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
View on moma.org

Semantic Neighborhood

Panoramic – 32 works spanning the embedding landscape

press T

Keyboard Shortcuts

S Cycle source (semantic/color/artist/...)
P Toggle Sources column
V Cycle center mode (viewer/browser/split)
I Toggle Inspector column
\ Swap split direction
T Toggle toolbar
C Toggle palette strips
Shift+C Sort by color similarity
Shift+H Immersive mode (viewer only)
1-5 Set thumbnail size
? Toggle this help

Column shortcuts require ultrawide (2xl+) viewport

Related

45 – 65%
Reifying Desire 5 59%

Reifying Desire 5

Jacolby Satterwhite

2013

Reifying Desire 5 59% Jacolby Satterwhite 2013 Video animation (color, sound) Video Media and Performance 8:45 min. American 266.2016
URA ARU (the backside exists) 58%

URA ARU (the backside exists)

Gary Hill

1985-1986

URA ARU (the backside exists) 58% Gary Hill 1985-1986 Video (color, sound) Video Media and Performance 28:30 min. American 485.1985
Behold These Glorious Times! 57%

Behold These Glorious Times!

Trevor Paglen

2017

Behold These Glorious Times! 57% Trevor Paglen 2017 High-definition video (color, sound) Video Media and Performance 10:02 min. American 524.2021
2015 57%

2015

American Artist

2019

2015 57% American Artist 2019 High-definition video (color, sound) Video Media and Performance 21:56 min. American 506.2021.1
America 57%

America

Garrett Bradley

2019

America 57% Garrett Bradley 2019 Two-channel high-definition video (bl... Video Media and Performance 23:55 min. American 242.2021
Dream Journal 2016-2019 57%

Dream Journal 2016-2019

Jon Rafman

2019

Dream Journal 2016-2019 57% Jon Rafman 2019 High-definition video (color, sound) Installation Media and Performance 94 min. Canadian 1226.2018
Untitled 57%

Untitled

Jaime Davidovich

1976

Untitled 57% Jaime Davidovich 1976 Standard-definition video (black and ... Video Media and Performance 13:04 min. American 267.2024
Reifying Desire 2 57%

Reifying Desire 2

Jacolby Satterwhite

2011

Reifying Desire 2 57% Jacolby Satterwhite 2011 Video animation (color, sound) Video Media and Performance 8:25 min. American 263.2016
112 Greene Street 57%

112 Greene Street

Jaime Davidovich

1975

112 Greene Street 57% Jaime Davidovich 1975 Standard-definition video (black and ... Video Media and Performance 10:12 min. American 255.2024
Automation House 57%

Automation House

Gordon Matta-Clark

1971

Automation House 57% Gordon Matta-Clark 1971 16mm film transferred to video (black... Video Media and Performance 32 min. American 1166.2007.1
New York Project 56%

New York Project

Jaime Davidovich

1975

New York Project 56% Jaime Davidovich 1975 Standard-definition video (black and ... Video Media and Performance 11:51 min. American 260.2024
Part 4 56%

Part 4

Hakudo Kobayashi

1978

Part 4 56% Hakudo Kobayashi 1978 Video (color, silent) Video Media and Performance 17 min. Japanese 1283.1979
Not Blacking Out, Just Turning the Lights Off 56%

Not Blacking Out, Just Turning the Lights Off

James Richards

2011

Not Blacking Out, Just Turning the Lights Off 56% James Richards 2011 Two-channel video (color, sound; 16:1... Installation Media and Performance Dimensions variable British 894.2014
Between Darkness and Light (After William Blake) 56%

Between Darkness and Light (After William Blake)

Douglas Gordon

1997

Between Darkness and Light (After William Blake) 56% Douglas Gordon 1997 Two-channel video (color and black an... Installation Media and Performance 107 min. and 155 min. Scottish 1097.2005.a-f
Past Future Split Attention 56%

Past Future Split Attention

Dan Graham

1972

Past Future Split Attention 56% Dan Graham 1972 Video (black and white, sound) Video Media and Performance 17:03 min. American 61.2009
THE GIVERNY SUITE 56%

THE GIVERNY SUITE

Ja'Tovia Gary

2019

THE GIVERNY SUITE 56% Ja'Tovia Gary 2019 Three-channel high-definition video a... Video Media and Performance Overall dimensions variable American 243.2021
The A Ha! Experience 55%

The A Ha! Experience

Julie Zando

1988

The A Ha! Experience 55% Julie Zando 1988 Video (color, sound) Video Media and Performance 4:32 min. American 708.1990
Deafman Glance 55%

Deafman Glance

Robert Wilson

1981

Deafman Glance 55% Robert Wilson 1981 Video (color, sound) Video Media and Performance 27 min. American 724.1981
Reifying Desire 4: Model It 55%

Reifying Desire 4: Model It

Jacolby Satterwhite

2009

Reifying Desire 4: Model It 55% Jacolby Satterwhite 2009 Video animation (color, sound) Video Media and Performance 6:29 min. American 265.2016
A Magical Substance Flows Into Me 55%

A Magical Substance Flows Into Me

Jumana Manna

2015

A Magical Substance Flows Into Me 55% Jumana Manna 2015 Video (color, sound) Video Media and Performance 67 min. Palestinian 258.2016
Ancient of Days 55%

Ancient of Days

Bill Viola

1979-1981

Ancient of Days 55% Bill Viola 1979-1981 Video (color, sound) Video Media and Performance 12:21 min. American 484.1982.4
sleepwalkers 55%

sleepwalkers

Doug Aitken

2007

sleepwalkers 55% Doug Aitken 2007 Six-channel video (color, sound) Installation Media and Performance 12:57 min. American 212.2008
Chott el-Djerid (A Portrait in Light and Heat) 55%

Chott el-Djerid (A Portrait in Light and Heat)

Bill Viola

1979

Chott el-Djerid (A Portrait in Light and Heat) 55% Bill Viola 1979 Video (color, sound) Video Media and Performance 28 min. American 723.1981
Variation FQ 55%

Variation FQ

Jeremy Shaw

2013

Variation FQ 55% Jeremy Shaw 2013 16mm film (black and white, sound) Installation Media and Performance 11:05 min. Canadian 876.2013
Lessons of the Hour 55%

Lessons of the Hour

Isaac Julien

2019

Lessons of the Hour 55% Isaac Julien 2019 Ten-channel 4K video and 35mm film tr... Video Media and Performance Dimensions variable British 398.2022
Play Dead; Real Time 55%

Play Dead; Real Time

Douglas Gordon

2003

Play Dead; Real Time 55% Douglas Gordon 2003 Three-channel video (color, silent), ... Installation Media and Performance 19:11 min., 14:44 min. (on ... Scottish 1098.2005.a-f
Surveillance 54%

Surveillance

Jaime Davidovich

1976

Surveillance 54% Jaime Davidovich 1976 Standard-definition video (color, sound) Video Media and Performance 31:31 min. American 266.2024
Big Camera 54%

Big Camera

Judith Barry

1994

Big Camera 54% Judith Barry 1994 16mm film transferred to video (color... Video Media and Performance 5 min. American 1642.2000
A Man Screaming Is Not a Dancing Bear 54%

A Man Screaming Is Not a Dancing Bear

Jennifer Allora

2008

A Man Screaming Is Not a Dancing Bear 54% Jennifer Allora 2008 Super 16mm film transferred to high-d... Video Media and Performance 11:15 min. American 393.2022
John 3:16 54%

John 3:16

Paul Pfeiffer

2000

John 3:16 54% Paul Pfeiffer 2000 Standard-definition video (color, sil... Installation Media and Performance 6 x 7 x 36" (15.2 x 17.8 x ... American 450.2002.a-c
Imagination, dead imagine 54%

Imagination, dead imagine

Judith Barry

1991

Imagination, dead imagine 54% Judith Barry 1991 Five-channel standard-definition vide... Video Media and Performance Installation: 120 × 120 × 1... American 759.2022