Transversals

Transversals

2013 HD (1080p) Pal, colour, sound Duration: 10.30 min. The location of the film is the Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin. Neither a conventional monument nor simply a public sculpture, the memorial consists of a field of 2,711 concrete stelae arranged in grid formation, over a large expanse of space. The film opens with a number of still shots that are reminiscent of abstract painting. Gradually the images give way to a perspectival view revealing a group of boys entering the field of stelae and disappearing from view. Soon the camera is trained on the narrow pathways deep inside the field showing the unfolding of a choreographed performance. Individual performers traverse along the multiple intersections of the grid, changing direction with no particular aim. By intercutting shots of tourists, walking within the field, with the performers actions the work blurs performative action and documentary representation. Immersion in the field of stelae is a singular experience that slows down time. Immersion and the limitation of vision produce a state of interiority, which allows for the activation of subjective memory. Giorgio Agamben, writing on the memorial, suggests that there are two kinds of memories, “the ‘memorable which is conveyed through information and the unforgettable, that which exceeds the archive”. 1 1 The Two Memories, Giorgio Agamben, DIE ZEIT 04.05.2005 Nr.19 http://www.zeit.de/2005/19/Mahnmal_2f_Agamben/komplettansicht