 |
Written down by Pat Binder and Gerhard Haupt, based on an interview with the artist.
The video is based on a medical technique used in the examination of blood circulation. These examinations are actually done with 16mm film which - like x-rays - have a high level of radiation. However, in order to put the body in the correct position - in other words to create a "preview" - one uses video which does not employ such a high level of radiation. That is how I could write for almost half an hour without a problem. The level of radiation is as low as with airport inspections.
The idea for this work came to me from a series of x-ray portraits I exhibited in Buenos Aires. In these portraits, certain features or personal elements of the models were left on, like pieces of clothing, rings or watches. Several trials led to the idea of creating a subject for the writing, because the movement of the hand or possibly the sound of the writing can be seen or heard on the recording, but what does not appear is the ink and therefore the message. In my search for a way of rendering this, I discovered this technique.
I wanted to emphasize man's need to leave behind a trace, a message, a history. Perhaps that which remains is nothing more than the gesture, which is why I have heightened the tone in this video. In order to follow a line, I have copied a lecture by Cage on silence, which I find amusing but which is only a curious detail in passing.
When they invited me to Havana for the Biennial and suggested that I do something to the theme of communication, I found this to be the ideal work. In dealing with the theme of "communication," the gesture of communicating is more important to me than the content, the discourse which are ultimately empty in one way or another. What remains is difficult to grasp. It is as though one wanted to catch water with a net.
(Translated from the German version by Rebeccah Blum)
|
|
One sequence from the video can be found at Gustavo Romano's website - in mpeg and Real format . |
|
