Come on into the continents I

2009
single channel video installation
5:50 min (2:20 min excerpt)
HDV

First part of a trilogy that has been filmed in Egypt, Hong Kong and Belgium.

Outside of Luxor the eye moves in a slow circle. People are standing in the desert, alone or in groups. Tourists descend from the sky in a large red balloon. The camera’s perspective corresponds to the gaze of a foreigner having a look around. A couple of details sail past, without for all that rendering the situation as a whole perceptible. The eye wanders on across the surface of the desert. Urban settlements come into view. An arrival is summed up in one long, slow pan, a touchdown on a strange planet, recounted from a horizontal perspective only gradually closing the gap between itself and its object.

1. Prize SCOPE Subject/Art Basel 2010, videoart