Fliegenschwimmen (Fly Swimming)

The video installation Fliegenschwimmen (Fly Swimming) represents the desire to fly, an act that is not possible underwater – a sense of freedom that has, nevertheless, been constricted.

Fliegenschwimmen (Fly Swimming) dares to step beyond the tacit boundaries of the formats prescribed to video art. A somewhat complex and elaborate installation consisting of 24 monitors brings a fresh approach to the current ways that video and cinema are projected. Old CRT displays meet the computer era by means of digital input and high-resolution graphical material.

The interplay between the binary opposites is also projected through the content, namely the confrontation of opposing emotions. The imagery emerging from a combination of water, expressed feelings and the flickering of the monitors makes up the poetry of Fliegenschwimmen (Fly Swimming). The video installation convincingly illustrates a dramatically emotional, black-and-white sensation through multifaceted shades of gray. The central motif of this video work has emerged in close cooperation with the feature film Der böse Onkel (The Wicked Uncle) by Urs Odermatt. It focuses on the coming-of-age of daughters, the pursuit of freedom from maternal influence and the conflicts associated with this struggle. The media artist Claudia Waldner's visual world of imagery, successfully interwoven with the stylistic devices of Odermatt's language, creates a morbidly poetic world view. (Sara Izzo / Michael Hunziker)