Contemporary Case Studies

Contemporary Case Studies is a showroom of emotions where each section of the film contrasts documentary, fictional and experimental genres in an artificial, highly stylized space to cut out any attempt to read it naturalistically. A black comedy featuring an experimental graphic style, the video takes a bleak look at the confused nature of love and relationships in Sydney.

»I am responding to the world, to texts, to media, or following models like language lessons and then playing with structures«, the artist notes. She mixes different film genres to present nine humorous and distinctly stylized views on men and women: absurd politics of sex and love, relationship and romantic failures. She is experimenting with a colorful, split screen layout, which references the cool 'duotonic' graphic design to be found in interior design product publications and instructional films from the 1960s. The video aims to combine this visual treatment with performances by a cast of mostly untrained actors – thus, juxtaposing the strengths of fiction, experimental and documentary forms. Though Merewether hopes that men and women will eventually become friends, she chronicles the obstacles in-between. (Babak Tavassoli/Carolin Wacker)