Retrospection

2000, single-channel video projection, black & white, stereo sound, 16 min

This video-projection of an anonymous photograph taken in the 1930s shows 44 schoolboys and their teacher (a priest). At a particular point the camera zooms in on the face of a boy a few moments. This moment marks an invisible cross-over from still photo to real-time motion, with the faces coming to life through subtle digital animation. In this work a point in time and the course of time are woven into one. The camera’s zoom (our gaze) functions like a question, for which an answer (in the eyes of the children) is never forthcoming.