Man Under Arches

2000, single-channel interactive video projection, black & white, silent

Interactive video sequences are triggered by a sensor when the viewer enters the room. The projected image is a frontal view of two industrial arches that cast deep shadows. On the left-hand side of the composition there is an opening with a wall sloping away from us, along which a figure will leave and walk behind the scene when a visitor enters the room. In some cases the entering visitor will see this figure disappear along the wall. The events in the room and those in the projection are inversely linked: for as long as the visitor is present, the figure in the video will remain immobile in the shade. When the visitor leaves the room the figure will start walking again.
The spectator will never be able to meet the figure in the video, but will always be left looking on two large frontal openings, which function as reservoirs for the imagination.


David Claerbout ©2024