Depiction part III

Introduction by Renske Janssen / Nicolaus Schafhausen, 5 min.

Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla, Sweat Glands, Sweat Lands, 2006, DVD, 9:21 min.
In the video Sweat Glands, Sweat Lands a pig is roasted over an open fire by having the spit attached to the back wheel of a car. When the car accelerates the pig turns at different speeds, while the voice of Residente Calle 13, a young reggaeton singer from Puerto Rico, addresses the viewer in Spanish. He draws on the examples of non-human social organizations, such as those among bats, termites, and ants for possible alternative modes of being-in-common and describes a possible path of contemporary experience.

Aïda Ruilova, It had no feelings, 2003, DVD, 2 min.
In her work Aïda Ruilova investigates the psychological state created by cinematic tools such as editing and sound. Ruilova’s work is theoretically related to Eisenstein, who used montage techniques to reflect the fragmentation of everyday life. In It had no feelings two women are juxtaposed in contrasting light and dark images, as twins, or more abstract as reflections of one another.

Chloe Piene, Blackmouth, 2004, DVD, 3:36 min.
Chloe Piene is part of a young generation of artists investigating new representations of radical otherness.
In Blackmouth Piene shows an intense image of isolation and fear in which she refers to the classical genres of the Hollywood horror movies. A young girl covered in mud is in an extremely slowed down film, assuming the position of an animal.

Marc Bauer, Anteferno II, 2002, DVD, 6:25 min.
The video trilogy Anteferno I, II en III is about human relationships and investigates loneliness, power and morality. Anteferno II shows a close-up of an elderly man who glances emotionally towards a landscape, cut with a static shot of an empty room in which he tries to dance. A dramatic song by Leonard Cohen on the soundtrack makes the protagonist look even more alone.

Mark Raidpere, Ten Men, 2003, DVD, 9 min.
Male alienation and isolation are recurrent themes in Raidpere’s work. Ten Men shows a series of prisoners flexing their muscles and flaunting their tattoos for the camera, but also smiling in embarrassment and looking away in hope of solidarity. The film leaves us wondering which of the prisoners are brutal criminals and which are simply victims of society

Kai Kaljo, Babyklappe, 2006, DVD, 4 min.
Followed by Q&A, 10 min.
In the four-minute Babyklappe, the camera tracks woozily along a city wall in Germany until it reaches a window, behind which is a baby’s mattress and blanket; here mothers can safely leave unwanted babies, to be put up for adoption. Following a brief route to and from the niche, the video seems intended as a porthole of sorts on to an atomized, dehumanized society.

Aïda Ruilova, Life Like, 2006, DVD, 5 min.
In Life Like, similar to It had no feelings, we can recognize a fascination for film genres and their history. In this work Ruilova focuses on the French film maker Jean Rolling, who promised himself to depict the same story again and again. The creator of erotic vampire B-films is one of Ruilova’s favorites. In Life like she seems obsessed by him and visits the locations and sets of his films and responds to the props. The images stem from original Rollins films and material by Ruilova herself.

Jeremy Shaw, 7 Minutes, 2002, DVD, 6 min.
Followed by Q&A, 10 min.
7 Minutes shows original footage that was made when Shaw was an 18 year old high school student in North Vancouver, with the work gradually edited and produced over a seven year period. The action takes place at a friends house party. The camera captures two skater girls having an argument and the crowd is parted by the arm of the cameraman to get a better look. The argument develops into a fistfight as the camera rolls and the other kids look seemingly concerned.
The video is accompanied (and named for) an original recording by Shaw, from his 2002 Circlesquare album Pre-Earthquake Anthem. The lyrics of the song refer to the strange unease of living in an earthquake-prone place (Vancouver is situated on a major fault line).

Klara Liden, Paralyzed, 2003, DVD, 4 min.
In Paralyzed we see the artist throwing herself back and forth through a commuter train in Stockholm. She is leaping around poles and climbing in the luggage space, whilst bystanders stare at her amazed. The film does not express a Jackass-like audacity but shows an honest form of self expression, containing helplessness, bottled-up anger and frustration.

Erik van Lieshout, Rock, 2006, DVD, 27 min.
In his recent film Rock we see artist Erik van Lieshout in a complex situation. Although the images seem to have a documentary quality, the question arises how far the edit makes it an unreal, fictive image. Van Lieshout is responding to a man who is invisible behind the scenes and will never be caught on tape. This man seems to influence him a lot, as a father figure or the example of a long and happy life, everything he seems to lack. Instead of finding answers to his questions what money, happiness and violence mean to him, he becomes more and more threatened by this mysterious character.