Blast Theory: Come on, Kidnap yourself!Martin Conrads
"We are Blast Theory - We are two of Blast Theory. My name is Ju, this is Matt, and there is two other members of blast theory, ncik and will, who live in england. Weâve been working tohether for nearly seven years - 6 and a half years. We do a combination of things: various artforms we combine forms together, sometimes live performances with video and computer work and text, projections, sometimes installations, sometimes film."
Ju Row Farr und Matt Adams von der britischen Multimediacombo "Blast Theory" halten sich derzeit mit einem Stipendium im Berliner Künstlerhaus Bethanien auf. Mit ihrem dort aufgebauten Environment "KIDNAP" zwingen sie den Besucher in eine paranoide und exzeptionelle Situation: Hat man an der Rezeption ein Dokument unterschrieben, wonach alle Rechte des später geführten Videointerviews an Blast Theory übertragen werden, wird man in einen sorgsam erdachten Labyrinthaufbau geschickt. An dessen Ende öffnet sich, nach vielen Türen, einigen Wartestühlen und diversen ausgelegten Publikationen zur RAF, ein karger Raum mit Videokamera, in dem man sich den dezenten wie eindringlichen Fragen eines Interviewers zum Thema Kidnapping gegenübersieht. Fragen, die den Rhetoriker ins Schwitzen und den Spontanisten ins Grüblen bringen, auf der Suche nach Antworten, die, angesichts der laufenden Kamera, zwischen Lüge und Wahrhaftigkeit nur das unbedacht und gutwillig Rausgeplapperte übrig lassen.
Matt (in Installation):
- My first question to you is this: Where would you place yourself on the following scale, if 1 is calm and placid and 10 is psychotic?
- Which places do you feel most comfortable in?
- Do you enjoy staying in places like hotel rooms?
- What is it you like about it?
- Are you happy with your life at the moment?
- Would you like to be in the news?
- Are you self-confident?
- How long does it take for you to trust someone?
- Have you ever felt excited sitting next to a stranger?
- Have you felt excited making eye-contact with a stranger?
- Do you lie?
- Do you have a criminal record?
- What is your clearest memory of stealing something?
- Do you like watching people?
- What do you feel when you hear the sound of sirens?
- Do you always use your own name?
- Have you ever tied someone up?
- Did you enjoy it?
- Did you enjoy it?
- Would you say that you like to be in control of situations?
- Do you have a criminal record?
- Is pain something you can enjoy?
- What would be your perfect kidnap?
- Do you think it is possible to change society democratrically?
- Are you good at remembering faces?
- Do you believe that violent acts can be beautiful?
- Could you hurt someone if it was necessary?
- When I say the word "torture" - what do you think of?
- If you get forced to get an information out of someone, how would you do it?
- Do you work well to a deadline?
- Are you good recruting people?
- Can you manage a team?
- Can you hide your anger if you need to?
- What do you like at negotiating?
- In 1976 the SLA kidnapped Patty Hearst in San Francisco. In return for their release they demanded a 70$ worth free foodbe given to every poor person in California. Do you think that was wrong?
- Have you ever kidnapped anyone?
- Have you ever taken someone somewhere against their will?
- Have you thought about kidnapping anyone?
- Would you break the law for something you believe in?
- How far would you go, what would be you limit for breaking the law?
- Do you think kidnapping ever changed anything?
- What does kidnapping allow you to do that nothing else does?
- Have you overcome your fears?
- In what way did that help you?
- What is missing from your life?
- Final question: What's the most serious thing you've ever done?
Das subtil geführte Gespräch, das um die 40 Minuten dauern kann, wird dem Besucher als Videoband übergeben. Er kann es nun entweder erwerben oder es sich im letzten Raum auf dem Recorder ansehen, neben den Aufzeichnungen der mit den früheren Besuchern geführten Interviews. Über die Antworten jener wird man irgendwann anfangen zu lachen. Der Schock aber kommt dann, wenn man sich schließlich sein eigenes Band ansieht. Selten sah man sich so offenherzig und naiv für die Nachwelt dokumentiert.
Ju:
"I think also as well some people that we spoken to start to say something that they think they know what they are saying, and then a story will come out, and they are not quite sure where it comes from or where it's going to; and they only realize that when they watch themselves back on video and they say: "why did i say that?" It happened a few times that people have been shocked of what they've said themselves."
Matt:
"That's the perfect situation, isn't it? Where people spill things out without quite realizing it. Or only later realize the connections or realize the significance of what they said."
Ju:
"I think the interest in terms of the actual interviews is not so much an interest in having these questions and having answers. We don't know the answers and we try not to have questions where we thought we would know the answers, because that's not very interesting, and that I think is almost scientific, that they have a theory they set out to prove with a set of questions. We didn't have a theory that we were trying to justify to ourselves with this set of questions. The questions in a way are a vehicle for us to discuss on a very 1:1-basis as informally as we could, or a cleanly as we could a subject with an audience. I think for us the connection between the person that sees the art or is involved in the art and us as the makers is very important. So in a way it's a process of connecting with our audience for the first time as much as possible or suitable for the subject."
Matt:
"I think so. I would say that the research that we are interested in is in the brain of each visitor. What we want to do is: our naive and optimistic view of art is that we are allowed to change people's lifes. The idea would be that someone leaves that installation with a slightly different view of the world as they arrived with."
Ju:
"We're kind of adults pretending to be kids prentending to be scientists."
Was sich in der Berliner Version von KIDNAP nur vorzeichnet, soll im nächsten Jahr in England ausgeführt werden: Hier werden die Interviewten nicht nur befragt, sondern zwei von ihnen willkürlich von Blast Theory entführt werden.
In Berlin kann KIDNAP von Blast Theory noch bis zum heutigen Abend um 19.00 im Künstlerhaus Bethanien am Mariannenplatz 2 aufgesucht werden.
e-mail an Martin Conrads
- 7.Dezember 1997 -
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