MISSION IN TORTURA, 2004
Video projection, 6' 30", sound
Tortura is a fictitious country. It is unclear who is reporting from there. It could be a soldier who has been deployed on a mission. In any case, events in Tortura are strange, and they remain a mystery. The report is comprised of a series of video stills that have been overlayed with a line grid. Below the images there is an information bar and an endlessly rotating symbol.
The image stream is very diverse; it includes satellites, flags, parachutists, a bird, and a man who is etching. All of a sudden, a certain Dr. Wakefield appears. The visual and textual aesthetics of the report bring to mind current political events in crisis areas, they evoke persecution and fear. In the end, the report from this fictitious, but also highly realistic, region of Tortura remains a mystery: “We have achieved nothing.”
Excerpt from the script
Credits
Thanks to: Chantal Bermond, Catharina Brückmann, Cécile Dupaquier, Gabriele Heller, Anita Holdener, Luise Hüsler, Hanspeter Pfammatter, Ingrid Wildi
Special thanks to: Klaus Wehmeier (text), Sophie Watzlawick (french translation), Jennifer Cassels-Scupham (english translation)