Prelude
A staccato of light flashes breaks through the darkness of the night. For a brief moment, the past becomes visible. (production note)
Ode to Demolition. Resounding thunder accompanies the sparks of exploding fireworks. Faint points of light grow into glittering fountains and cascades and illuminate what initially resembles a completely foggy night sky.
These images turn out to be different interior spaces, flashed in phases by the ignition, sites that have long since given up their original functionality. In the explosion they are combined into a dwelling of spectacle. Boxes lie on top of each other like overturned tombstones and the walls are peeling – a legacy that invites a ceremonial continuation of the erosion and at the same time reverses this process. The prelude here is what is usually presented as the final climax of a pompous ceremonial act: pyropomp! We are led to the reversal, which includes the black and white sixty-year-old 16mm footage of where this invigoraing bang takes place. Director Eginhartz Kanter layers the destruction: damage to the building, damage to the film material, bombastic damage audio of a fictionalized past, the preservation of the moment in decay.
If it’s already broken, then why not add a little more? (Melanie Letschnig)
Translation: John Wojtowicz
Prelude
2022
Austria, Germany
3 min 21 sec