Where Gravity Fades

Video, colour, sound, 19:55, room construction made of wood, wire sculptures, round lamp on tripod
2025

Movements appear as traces of light in the darkness. Human breathing can be heard. A hand feels the shape of a wire model. Three performers search for forms of predictable value creation in work processes through open and rehearsed movements. Their roles oscillate between researchers and travelers through time and space. At the beginning of the 20th century, in the course of increasing industrialization, the movements of workers were researched in both Russia and the USA in order to optimize them.

A performer lies on the floor. Wire wraps around their legs. In the background, water drips onto basalt stones. The projection of a southern Norwegian landscape shows how an open-cast mine works its way down into the depths in terraces. A landscape that resembles that of the moon in its characteristics. In the future, raw materials that are running out on Earth are to be extracted on the moon. The Outer Space Treaty sees this as a use in the interests of humanity as a whole. The loopholes in the law are being exploited by individual states and private companies to justify their own access.

In the film, staged scenes, documentary footage, images, and sound are combined in the montage to create a rhythm that shakes up all-too-predictable processes. Brought into motion by tracks by Midori Hirano, CoH, and Robert Koch, the performers wrestle with gravity.

Director
Sandra Schäfer

Dramaturgy
Janina Herhoffer

Performers
C. Bain, Jyl Franzbecker, Annegret Schalke

Camera
Bernadette Paaßen

Sound
Manuela Schininá

Set Design
Àngela Ribera

Sound Design
Steffen Martin

Sound Mix
Jochen Jezussek

Colour Grading
Till Beckmann

Graphic Design
Wolfgang Schwärzler

Research Assistance
Sirrah Hamann

Funded by
Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg

Produced in the Framework of the Exhibitions
Robotron. Code and Utopia, GfZK – Museum of Contemporary Art Leipzig, 2025
Robotron. Working Class and Intelligence, HMKV Hartware Medienkunstverein Dortmund, 2026