Current Status, 1. Declaration, 2012
HD Video, 17:33 Min
A young man suffering from a severe form of Tourette syndrome reads the
30 articles of the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” “Current Status” is a quasi-documentary video work that explores the partial loss of control over speech caused by a neurological disorder known as Tourette syndrome.
In terms of content, the video work points in two directions:
On the one hand, the work has a political component. Through the constant chopping up of the text and the uncontrolled insertion of swear words, it draws attention to the deficient and largely unfulfilled promise of the Declaration of Human Rights. Thus, the manner of delivery represents the “Current Status” of the Declaration of Human Rights. On the other hand, the work revisits a method of “Art Incoherent,” a short-lived art movement in Paris at the end of the 19th century, which sought to expressively explore existing texts or songs by having them performed by people with neurological disorders. New meanings emerge along the boundary between control and loss of control.
