Bar/vegetation
We watch a young couple in slow motion, sitting in a bar smoking and enjoying alcoholic drinks while their toddler looks on. We realise that they are being interviewed, not from the audio track, but from the presence of a microphone and by their gestures. The slow, minimal movements of the adults contrast with those of the child, who first reaches for a cigarette and then determinedly and persistently keeps trying to grab a champagne glass.
These images are accompanied by a short story read aloud by author Michael Ebmeyer, his voice conveying the full range of emotions. No direct connection can be made between image and narration, but now and again single words or sentence fragments seem to accidentally fit what is going on in the scene, at times to amusing effect.
While the story repeats in a loop, the video begins after a cut in the middle to run backwards again for its full length - a fact that is almost imperceptible for the viewer. The juxtaposition of visual and acoustic levels now running in opposite directions creates a new relationship between image and narration in the second half of the video. This results in a shift in meaning that is difficult to comprehend rationally: 'It's very possible that this might make us nervous after a while ...'. (Natalie Maya Nonaka)
About the video
About the artists
- 1965 in GER
- 1973 in Bonn, GER
