We're All to Pieces

2014

screening at Emergent Gallery, Veurne

HD, 8’05

The video shows a scene reminiscent of a puppet show. Two severed pieces of parsley, guided by hands, seek closeness, only to break apart again and again. Finally, they dance together, intertwining and finding a moment of peace. A third figure, crowned and entering the scene from above like a deus ex magina, tries to disturb the harmony that has been achieved. But as the narrative unfolds, this figure finally abandons its antagonistic stance.

As the camera rises and hovers, it encounters a pair of jeans legs, a separation similar to that between the branches of parsley. This interruption foreshadows a reflective episode from the first chapter. The sequence then shifts to black and white photographs of vegetables in their final stages of growth, remnants of a bygone garden. The camera continues to reveal a lone sprig of parsley on the ground, followed by a group of running boys in a park. The stamping sound in the background echoes the movement of the parsley from the opening chapter.

The composition of the video, with its different sequences and spatial experiences, emphasises the fragmented nature of reality. Connections seem temporary and separation is a constant theme.

Technical assistance from Bram Vandeveire