Knut Gerwers
Slaves of Inheritance


Still

1990, 00:13:47, PAL, black/white, color, sound, G001 08


This collaged work, combines various film and video material, including historical footage of the World War II period, other international historical footage from during and after the war, movie clips from various German expressionist movies, as well as Gerwer`s own video footage. He weaves these various found materials together in a visually innovative way, overlapping and fading into each other, often using a cross design on the screen, dividing it into four windows. His materials, including aerial shots of destroyed Berlin, Hitler speeches, dropping bombs, Nazi processions, in altered colours, like reds and purples, are then spliced with images form German expressionist dramas such as “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" and “Metropolis". He uniquely juxtaposes these sources, creating a striking comparison between the two, to where the Nazi images start to seem like unreal dramatic fiction, and the movie clips start to look more like the horrific realities of that period in German history. He uses footage of victims in concentration camps, looking like skeletons, and splices them with a frightening Skelton movie character. Gerwer`s unique reflective style and critical commentary lends itself to the video medium, allowing him to sample historical footage but combine and collage it in a poignant new style. (lg)


Found-Footage Film Dokumentarisches Video Geschichte Nationalsozialismus Krieg Gewalt Collage


« Sammlung