© Sven Johne/VG BILD-KUNST Bonn

Elmenhorst

Sven Johne

  • Year 2006
  • Edition Edition 4/5
  • Material/Technique Single-channel video projection (color, sound)
  • Length 6' 20''
  • Category Media art
  • Collection Sammlung Goetz, Medienkunst, München

A long camera shot shows a gray day by the sea. Two people, perhaps a father and son, walk silently along the beach. The older man is carrying a rifle. Guises and gestures reveal that a conflict exists between the pair. After several attempts to find the right words, the older man takes aim at an imaginary target on the open sea and fires a shot. He then hands the rifle to the youth. The lad takes aim, also at the sea; he hesitantly fires a shot and then impulsively empties the entire magazine. Elmenhorst is reminiscent of a feature film that impresses its message without a spoken word. The plot is revealed solely through the gestures and facial expressions of the two actors.
Recent German history and the fall of the Berlin Wall are recurring themes in Sven Johne’s work. The stretch of beach where the film Elmenhorst was shot lies in the eponymous municipality in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. During GDR times, it was a restricted area because of its proximity to the West German coast. Many East Germans dared to flee to the West via this Baltic Sea bay, most of whom lost their lives.

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