Is the great bear a lonely bear
Ief Spincemaille, 2005
Credits: Concept: Ief Spincemaille; Video: Klaas Verpoest; Production: De Filmfabriek
In a half dark room a large cage hangs approximately 2 meters above the ground.A ladder allows you to climb up to the cage and put your head inside of it. A television stands inside. On this TV the spectator sees himself: he stands on a ladder with his head in a cage. Behind himself he hears noises and footsteps. On the television a man appears on screen. He examines the spectator for half a minute, and gets out off the picture again. A few moments later he returns, he strolls around, does something, does nothing and involves the spectator in his endless trouble. Between both ‘persons’ unfolds a game of looking and being looked at, speaking and listening. The man asks questions and writes texts on the ground. All fruitless attempts: the spectator is real, the actor remains a film character.
Is the Great Bear a Lonely Bear is is a one-person-cinema. Witness and actor try to communicate with each other in a space somewhere between cinema and reality. The spectator becomes part of the movie, the actor becomes more real than a filmcharacter. Between both arises a game of looking at and being watched, listening and being heard. Because of the technical manipulation of live and pre-recorded images, we create a fascinating space, a flawed space on the border between real and not real.