Pool

Stefan Panhans &

Listen, it's like this: we're doing this production, and we need people who believe in themselves, who know who they are and aren't afraid to show it. Real characters, one-of-a-kind, self-confident young people. You just have to be yourself, but at your best, you know? Be yourself but at its top! ... <<

The completely static camera is directed at a young woman sitting in her parked compact car. This focus has the effect of making the viewer feel he is sitting with her in the car and listening to her voice against the background of birds chirping, which somehow makes the scenery seem unreal. It soon becomes apparent that she is not talking to the viewer, but that he is instead a kind of voyeur, intruding upon the protagonist during a private moment. Her view is directed within, turned away from the camera lens. Although her monologue is addressed to a 'you', it seems to be the recapitulation of a casting she has just participated in. The one-sidedness of her story makes the woman into an actress, and the content presents the bizarre rules of this metier - without a hint of emotion. The title Pool becomes a play on the concept of a 'casting pool' - a selection of talents from which casting directors can simply help themselves. (Nadia Ismail)

About the video

Title Pool
Year 2007
Videonale VIDEONALE.10
Length 00:07:00
Format 4:3
Country Germany,
Language German
Courtesy the artist
Specifications color, sound, single-channel video

About the artist

Stefan Panhans

*1967 in Hattingen, GER, lives and works in Hamburg, GER, and Berlin, GER.
Studied at the Merz Akademie in Stuttgart, GER, and at Hochschule für Bildende Künste, Hamburg, GER

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