THE RITUAL

This one-actor film is divided into three parts, which could be regarded as three acts similar to a stage play. The set for the film is simply a single bed and an old pendulum clock arranged at the same angles as the big and small hands on the clock face. The soundtrack just consists of the continuously ticking clock and a speaker, who recites a repetitive text in a stereotypical way. The actor remains completely silent throughout the entire film. Apart from repeatedly moving the bed to and fro and doing so, changing the angles at which both pieces of furniture – as well as the hands on the clock face – are arranged, his actions are stripped down to the minimum. While initially the soundtrack and the regular swing of the pendulum convey the impression that we’re watching a story told in linear fashion, we gradually recognize as the film progresses, that this may not be the case until it becomes obvious in the third act, when sequences of events completely run out of chronological order, that time, as a continuum in that film, doesn`t exist.

Digital Video, 3 min., 2000 / 2007