DARKNESS AT NOON
Video/film collage, super8 transferred to DV
Sound by: Leon Muraglia
Productionyear: 2010
more info at: http://www.marikenkramer.com
Welcome to the private view friday june 11th at 7 p.m
The work of Mariken Kramer is largely based on an interest in our psychology and sociology as human beings, the way we interact and our vulnerability as individuals within the social group. She works across the boundaries of different media, and often combines video, images and sculpture.
At TSSK Mariken Kramer will show two films, "Darkness at Noon" (2010) and "Bangla Mishti - Brief Encounters in Kolkata" (2006). The films are shown in parallel as they complement each other in relation to the lighter and darker sides of our existence.
While "Bangla Mishti - Brief Encounters in Kolkata" refers to some of the most positive aspects of life, Love, "Darkness at Noon" has a more unsettling content. Mariken Kramer borrows the title from Arthur Koestler's book from 1940 of the same name, which depicts the madness behind the Stalinist purges and Moscow show trials. We follow the trusted party man Rubashov from his arrest to his confession and finally his execution. We get an insight into his soul-searching about loyalty to the party and his reflections about how he betrayed agents in the past. Koestler shows how Rubashov becomes a victim within the ruthless logic of the same system in which he once acted as a perpetrator. This paradox as well as the inherent contradiction of the title (darkness at noon) serves as a starting point for Mariken Kramer's work. Her film is a visual reflection of the potential for evil that lurks within us all, and her fear of whom she, as a "moral" subject, can allow herself to become.
Most of us want to believe that we would always help the vulnerable, that we could never betray our neighbour, nor condone rape and humiliation of others through allegiance to an ideology that permits genocide. However, history shows there is a good chance that we most probably would side with the perpetrators. Stanley Mailgram’s Obedience Studies from the 60-ties show that we are more inclined to obey authority than to adhere to our own conscience and free will.
However, while history’s cruel and violent repetitions contribute to a feeling of human meaninglessness, it is at the same time important to remember the many "silent heroes" who also are ordinary people and that our capacity to do good can be triggered. "Darkness that Noon" is a personal, mental and emotional journey, a Captain Marlow's quest up the river, as well as a visual representation around this duality. The film is a collage of Super8 film, dv and stills and is screened for the first time at TSSK. Sound design is by Leon Muraglia.
"Bangla Mishti - Brief Encounters in Kolkata (Bangla mishti, = sweets from Bengal) is a 21 minutes long film about love in the big city of Kolkata (Calcutta) in India. The film highlights places where lovers seem to be exempt from restrictive cultural norms and taboos. Kolkata is a bustling city where people navigate between the limitations of both cultural and physical space. It is a city where, in spite of common perceptions of it as the epitome of urban poverty, people live and love.
Bangla Mishti was made in collaboration with Miriam Kramer and has previously been screened at Luksuz Festival in Trska Gora, Slovenia, where it was selected as ”Best Documentary”, at dokumentArt in Neubrandenburg, Germany and at Kampen Bistro in Oslo.
Supported by Art Council Norway
MARIKEN KRAMER IN THE BLACK CUBE
12.06.2010–11.07.2010
12.06.2010–11.07.2010
Video/film collage, super8 transferred to DV
Sound by: Leon Muraglia
Productionyear: 2010
more info at: http://www.marikenkramer.com
Welcome to the private view friday june 11th at 7 p.m
The work of Mariken Kramer is largely based on an interest in our psychology and sociology as human beings, the way we interact and our vulnerability as individuals within the social group. She works across the boundaries of different media, and often combines video, images and sculpture.
At TSSK Mariken Kramer will show two films, "Darkness at Noon" (2010) and "Bangla Mishti - Brief Encounters in Kolkata" (2006). The films are shown in parallel as they complement each other in relation to the lighter and darker sides of our existence.
While "Bangla Mishti - Brief Encounters in Kolkata" refers to some of the most positive aspects of life, Love, "Darkness at Noon" has a more unsettling content. Mariken Kramer borrows the title from Arthur Koestler's book from 1940 of the same name, which depicts the madness behind the Stalinist purges and Moscow show trials. We follow the trusted party man Rubashov from his arrest to his confession and finally his execution. We get an insight into his soul-searching about loyalty to the party and his reflections about how he betrayed agents in the past. Koestler shows how Rubashov becomes a victim within the ruthless logic of the same system in which he once acted as a perpetrator. This paradox as well as the inherent contradiction of the title (darkness at noon) serves as a starting point for Mariken Kramer's work. Her film is a visual reflection of the potential for evil that lurks within us all, and her fear of whom she, as a "moral" subject, can allow herself to become.
Most of us want to believe that we would always help the vulnerable, that we could never betray our neighbour, nor condone rape and humiliation of others through allegiance to an ideology that permits genocide. However, history shows there is a good chance that we most probably would side with the perpetrators. Stanley Mailgram’s Obedience Studies from the 60-ties show that we are more inclined to obey authority than to adhere to our own conscience and free will.
However, while history’s cruel and violent repetitions contribute to a feeling of human meaninglessness, it is at the same time important to remember the many "silent heroes" who also are ordinary people and that our capacity to do good can be triggered. "Darkness that Noon" is a personal, mental and emotional journey, a Captain Marlow's quest up the river, as well as a visual representation around this duality. The film is a collage of Super8 film, dv and stills and is screened for the first time at TSSK. Sound design is by Leon Muraglia.
"Bangla Mishti - Brief Encounters in Kolkata (Bangla mishti, = sweets from Bengal) is a 21 minutes long film about love in the big city of Kolkata (Calcutta) in India. The film highlights places where lovers seem to be exempt from restrictive cultural norms and taboos. Kolkata is a bustling city where people navigate between the limitations of both cultural and physical space. It is a city where, in spite of common perceptions of it as the epitome of urban poverty, people live and love.
Bangla Mishti was made in collaboration with Miriam Kramer and has previously been screened at Luksuz Festival in Trska Gora, Slovenia, where it was selected as ”Best Documentary”, at dokumentArt in Neubrandenburg, Germany and at Kampen Bistro in Oslo.
Supported by Art Council Norway
