NAUTHIZ (Etat d'Urgence)
at Museo de Arte Contemporaneo,
Santiago de Chile
"the limitations we directly cause ourselves or the limitations on us caused by
people around us - an indication to consider our actions carefully -
a time to restore, if not harmony, at least balance."
The room is darkened. Upon entering, the spectator is confronted with a large "catafalque"
on the floor abt. 2 x 3 m., made of thousands of newspaper sheet. From its surface erupts
a multitude of images: rapid and fragmentary - as a symbol of the highly visualized lifestyle
of today where everything has to be certified by an image to be "true".
Further away, two small parallel monitors are incrusted in the wall, showing a contemporary
urban panorama. The light goes slowly from morning to evening to morning, as an
illustration of time passing. The scene was filmed with two parallel cameras at a 30 min.
interval for 24 hours.
A whispering voice is reading a text like a prayer - the variations of the stockmarket.
The entire room is filled with fragments of mirrors, hanging from the ceiling at different levels.
Every visitor will see himself at least once during the visit. The overall sound embalming the room
is low, heavy, like ocean waves throwing themselves to the shore, or the rumour of a big city.
This installation was riginally created for the exhibition "L'Amour, La Mort, La Guerre"
at the C.I.C.V. Montbéliard 1990
"L'Amour, La Mort, La Guerre", Centre d'Art Contemporain., Montbeliard 1990
"Amnesie/Amnesie", Museo de Arte Contempor?neo, Santiago de Chile 2004