Yacht Tragedy (Ship of Fools) (2012)
HDV, 9:30 min
The remake of the insurance company's reenactment of a bizarre accident involving a yacht and a group of young people, executed by a water polo team in the lake of constance.
A group of young people sails out into open waters on a yacht. They all jump overboard together to swim. Too late they realize that nobody thought of putting put a ladder. Despite of trying everything, they cannot get back on the boat, and finally they perish in the ocean. This real-life drama, which happened in Greece, was re-enacted by the insurance company with a water polo team to find out if it really was impossible to survive.
My idea for the video was to reenact the insurance's reenactment. I casted the water polo teams of Arbon and Bregenz on the lake of Constance, and hired the largest yacht on the lake. Metaphorically, the resulting film depicts the moment of catastrophe in a greek tragedy, when the events turn from bad to worse. The soundtrack is the chant of a choir watching the drama unfold from the shore. (compositor: Johannes Schütt)
Produced by Kunsthalle Arbon for my solo exhibition "A Drift" in August 2012.