NRC journalist Arjan Ribbens visited Caspar Berger in his studio and interviewed him about his new video installations In Case and Cordon Sanitaire.
“I use my body as a vehicle for ideas.”
– Caspar Berger
This article about the video installations In Case and Cordon Sanitaire appeared in the Thursday, May 28, 2020 Cultural Supplement.
Video installation about Donald Trump
Arjan Ribbens visited Caspar Berger at his studio in Amsterdam during the first corona-lockdown. There Casper shows him his video installation In Case, about U.S. President Donald Trump. Ribbens also viewed Cordon Sanitaire, the video installation Caspar is currently working on.
Video installation on EU leaders’ corona speeches
The video installation Cordon Sanitaire shows excerpts from the corona speeches of the 27 EU leaders from the early 2020s. In these speeches, EU leaders announced their corona measures. In Cordon Sanitaire, the speeches begin shortly after each other, on how the Coronavirus is spreading in Europe. Even in the sound accompanying the video, the voices follow each other rapidly. The text of the first speakers can still be understood, but soon the many speakers drown each other out. This creates a soundscape that completely surrounds the viewer. You will hear two words recurring throughout the 27 speeches: “corona” and “solidarity. But where is this solidarity?
“The moment we in Europe have to fight a crisis in unison, you always see the opposite happen: close the borders, and own people first.
– Caspar Berger
