Bahn 83.6
VAN BREEST SMALLENBURG
Loop 7 min.
Videoinstallation with mirror projections on the wall
In the water tower in Geldern, van Breest Smallenburg fully admitted to the place, both physically and emotionally, which is reflected in the installations made during the residency. For the installation B 83.6 the station and railway premises were a crucial source of inspiration. Out of many video recordings a film has emerged, showing the sequence of a path with a forward look to the ground, a view we usually don’t have. Rough and fine stones, will alternate with rails and tracks in a regular rhythm and in a recurrent episode. In the otherwise quiet and peaceful installation you can hear birds without seeing them, as well as the noise of a passing train, although none goes.
Shooting the footage in this form was only possible because the rail line was temporarily shut down.
Consistently to the camera angle is the projection of the film on the floor, so that the view of the spectator is also downward. Broken is this line of vision through four mirror pieces, which project small sections of the film as moving pictures on the walls. They reinforce the feeling of movement and relate the viewer more intensively with the conduct.
Also the viewer can detect these partial sequences with the familiar sight, however, only a portion of each image, not the whole.
The station and its environment can be the starting point or stopover for traveling – in the past, the present and the future. The site tells many stories that happen day after day and year after year and have left traces. The installation B 83.6 raises questions, shows possibilities and leaves the answers to the viewer: be on the road with a suitcase, with a camera or even in thought. Whether we can in the process overcome limits, create connections or just look, is decision of the beholder.
Text by Annette Theyssen (art historian).
