“Because one thing is stronger than us, namely the eternal progression of time, which never stops and inevitably leads to death.” (Christian Boltanski)

An artificial choreography is generated by stringing together and repeating 25 still images. A rhythm is formed by modules of natural and artificial sounds (water drops and the clatter of a machine). A whispering voice recites “The Burial of the Dead” from the poem “The Waste Land” by T.S. Eliot.

In the left part of the screen is a static image that at first glance resembles a sacred motif, perhaps an altar of some sort. In fact, it is a table with a bird’s nest in the light of a neon lamp. In it lie small bird skeletons.

Memento… Boltanski! ” is a vanitas dance on the futility of life.

• Eri Kassnel Director
• Eri Kassnel Producer
• Dominik Feistmantl Dancer

Making

The basis of this work are photographs in long exposure, which were taken during a dance rehearsal. Since the order of the photos was rearranged by me, the resulting "dance" has nothing to do with the original choreography. On an acoustic level, I proceeded in a similar way: from water dripping and machine noises, I selected individual elements and put them together to form a rhythm.

Sound

All sounds are made  and edited by myself exclusively for this work.

Director Biography - Eri Kassnel

Eri Kassnel is a Romanian based concept and video artist, now living and working in a small Bavarian village in Germany. She studied “restoration” at the University of the Arts in Bern/CH and “interactive media” at the University of Applied Sciences in Augsburg/DE.

In her works, she examines the process of remembering and questions identity as an artificial construct between reality and fiction.

Her works are shown internationally at exhibitions and festivals.

Director Statement

We are the narrative of our own memory and the memory of others about us. This is how our identity is formed in a chronological context.

But today we know that memory is neither true, nor objective, nor complete. We lay traces, collect documents and photographs, and archive them. I see in this an existential doubt: who am I really if I cannot trust my memory and the memory of others? If I leave no traces, did I ever exist?

In the digital age, cloud archives with huge storage volumes are our memory. Algorithms collect vast amounts of data and traces that we leave behind in the infinite expanse of the internet. They find everything and forget nothing. They seem to know us better than we know ourselves. And more than that – they even know with statistical probability what we will do next.
Can they tell us who we are? Can we trust them? Or are these also just distorted images of artificial intelligences whose logic and intentions no one can see through?

The focus of my interest is the human being with his subjective perception and his ability to remember, to forget, to associate and – consciously or unconsciously – to think up his own utopias.