The video installation is carefully montaged footage of many unknown people who temporarily inhabit the space of Etage 8. For about an hour, they communicate with each other silently, without a word heard. In the process of adaptation to the unusual environment, primal human instincts and forms of exchange are activated. In everyday life these are usually suppressed by our drive towards productivity. The participants, obviously restricted by the ban on verbal communication, seem rather happy to be freed from it – they indulge in introverted pursuits – play, contemplation, sleep. Each individual gets the opportunity to consume time, space, and her/his body exclusively according to their personal desires. As time progresses, the participants also proceed to some socializing, but again it’s delicate, non-invasive. Speechless, the participants turn (once again) to the body as the primary medium of expression. We observe how, in some cases augmented by the immutable prostheses of technology, their bodies participate in new rituals of constructing closeness – those of modern cyborgs. At times the body is self-sufficient while it seeks surfaces and tissues; at other times it needs the bodies of others.
*Exerpts from a text by Boyana Djikova
DoP Tillman Rödiger
Steadicam operator Bobi Belberov
First assistant Eva Petrunova
Assistant Steadicam Vanya Ivanova
Gaffer Dimitar Yordanov
Second assistant Steadicam Andrey Kirkov
Editing Kalin Serapionov
Sound environment Georgi Atanasov
Video and audio installation Multimedia Company and Studio Balkanji
Special thanks to Elena Antonova, Ilinka Tchergarova, Georgi Nikolov / Magic Shop, Orlin Ruevski, Momchil Tashev
The project is realised with support from the National Culture Fund
*Installation views from ONE Gallery, Sofia, December 2022 – January 2023
