TAKE A NUMBER
HD, 2-channel-video, color, sound, 06:12 min
Edition of 3 with 2 APs
2017
"Focused, on what?" asks the installation and shows people in public places, in waiting areas or in the middle of the street, filmed in New York and Tokyo. In the midst of others, but isolated, because they are lost in their look at screens. "Bodiless communication preferred", it says in the video, which critically asks about the change of communication through the loss of personal interactions. Text: Claudia Voit
Images of people at bar counters, in front of slot machines and at coffee tables, in waiting rooms and at crossroads are positioned next to each other and juxtaposed in the video work “Take a Number”. “Stay focused! Focused on what?” is said at the beginning. Seen are people who are deeply absorbed in their bluish shining mobile phone displays, staring at TVs or sitting at gaming machines. “Bodiless communication preferred” is stated later. The scenes are set in New York and Tokyo, both symbolizing metropolitan cities worldwide, where people move around close to each other, crossing streets in the same rhythm, yet not touching, not looking at each other. The voice of the artist accompanies the viewer through anonymous everyday scenes and yet so familiar moments of public life–continuous communication and interaction merge with moments of loneliness into a poetic-dreamlike odyssey: “remind yourself, this is not real–try to let go.” Text: Marenka Krasomil