Hoffmann Drain Exit

The video Drain depicts three women shot from below, as they move very slowly either in a dancing or a pushing-pulling manner. Through their movement, they allow for a shift in associations, thus allowing for the visualization of an absence of solidarity, until an alliance between two is established that is followed by the oppression of the third one, who is pushed down into water. When the other women pull her up, water drops from her hair and ripples the water surface, resulting in a distortion of the image.
The physical water between dancers and camera adds a second barrier that distances performers from audience and confuses the spectator’s point of view of being under or above water.
The soundtrack of draining and dropping water lends an ambiguous tone to the video; at once a sense of timeless is evoked, yet the temporal particularity of a drop of water falling on a wet surface is emphasized.

Exit: A man is gently moved, pushed and pulled by two women on a large table until he is left alone to himself and falls off the table’s edge. The familiar movement of kneading dough, or manipulating a physical volume is ‘displaced’ by it being performed on a person. The camera follows those very gentle and sensual movements of the three in close proximity, thus becoming a forth person in this situation. The ambiguous manipulations recall physical therapy, though they are too sexual and performed in a festive environment. Later they develop further in a rather abrupt ending demonstrating indifference after the play. The amplified sound of sliding and shoving of a body emphasizes the intimacy of the situation, whereas the cracking of the wooden table in combination with the relentless movement of the camera creates associations with a ship in high waves.

Exhibition Drain at Oboro, Montreal, 2014

HD, 2:55 min, 2012	Click on the image to view video on VIMEO
The video Drain depicts three women shot from below, as they move very slowly either in a dancing or a pushing-pulling manner. Through their movement, they allow for a shift in associations, thus allowing for the visualization of an absence of solidarity, until an alliance between two is established that is followed by the oppression of the third one, who is pushed down into water. When the other women pull her up, water drops from her hair and ripples the water surface, resulting in a distortion of the image. The physical water between dancers and camera adds a second barrier that distances performers from audience and confuses the spectator’s point of view of being under or above water. The soundtrack of draining and dropping water lends an ambiguous tone to the video; at once a sense of timeless is evoked, yet the temporal particularity of a drop of water falling on a wet surface is emphasized. *Exit*: A man is gently moved, pushed and pulled by two women on a large table until he is left alone to himself and falls off the table’s edge. The familiar movement of kneading dough, or manipulating a physical volume is ‘displaced’ by it being performed on a person. The camera follows those very gentle and sensual movements of the three in close proximity, thus becoming a forth person in this situation. The ambiguous manipulations recall physical therapy, though they are too sexual and performed in a festive environment. Later they develop further in a rather abrupt ending demonstrating indifference after the play. The amplified sound of sliding and shoving of a body emphasizes the intimacy of the situation, whereas the cracking of the wooden table in combination with the relentless movement of the camera creates associations with a ship in high waves. Exhibition Drain at Oboro, Montreal, 2014