First the locations must be tracked down before the artistic probing into the incomplete photo
series titled SLEEPLESS can begin. The locations in the series carry elements of the mystic
and solitary, while the onset of dusk or dawn shrouds them in an almost eerie atmosphere.
With deliberation, vic & chris use these locations for the placing of their figures plus
requisites and for creating a trenchant choreography of light. Enigmatic narratives are the
point where the individuals begin turning into protagonists. Yet, it takes the observers'
imagination to allow the narratives to evolve and thus provoke an active engagement with the
themes. The film-like scenes combine reality and fiction, while the lingering darkness
reinforces the presence of the unknown, the threatening and the uncontrollable.
The duo chooses this very moment in the course of a day when it seems to us that the notion of time ceases to exist. Dusk and dawn both depict a transitional situation which belongs to neither day or night. To put it another way, vic & chris capture in their narratives a moment that comprises both, that hints at the past and future, while representing also a boundary experience. The depicted scenes happen during dusk or dawn. This is by no means the result of a solely aesthetic decision, but an intentional underscoring of a form of other- worldliness which we may see as the expulsion from Paradise. But of what paradise are we talking about?
Besides the phases of dusk or dawn, vic & chris include other elements with a double function such as cars, bridges and above all cardboard boxes. These objects may have a protective function, yet their importance for the movement of goods is also immanent and can be regarded as the last and reduced form of communication between people. We see a man who looks at the contents of a parcel and who is visually lost therein. We see another man who, in the cover of a bridge, burns a manuscript that seems to both fascinate and disgust him. A young women who is waiting and seeking a last refuge in her music we may regard as some form of resistance against an environment with which she can longer identify herself. While arranged mostly in pairs or groups, the individual figures are enveloped in an atmosphere of solitude. Indeed, it seems that each protagonist is caught up in a separate and disruptive activity or in a disoriented waiting position, which both bear a resemblance to obsession. Thus, the combination of location, dusk or dawn reveals a world that appears to be in denial of the people within it, a world that cannot provide answers and puts them off instead. What is the reason for the denial?
Again, vic & chris leave it to us to find answers. Their images are an appeal: a warning against the zombification of a society that detaches itself from collective projects, even rejects them and erects walls instead. As creatures zombies are both dead and alive, searching for something they can (no longer) have. And we ask ourselves whether these images happen in front of us or within us.
The duo chooses this very moment in the course of a day when it seems to us that the notion of time ceases to exist. Dusk and dawn both depict a transitional situation which belongs to neither day or night. To put it another way, vic & chris capture in their narratives a moment that comprises both, that hints at the past and future, while representing also a boundary experience. The depicted scenes happen during dusk or dawn. This is by no means the result of a solely aesthetic decision, but an intentional underscoring of a form of other- worldliness which we may see as the expulsion from Paradise. But of what paradise are we talking about?
Besides the phases of dusk or dawn, vic & chris include other elements with a double function such as cars, bridges and above all cardboard boxes. These objects may have a protective function, yet their importance for the movement of goods is also immanent and can be regarded as the last and reduced form of communication between people. We see a man who looks at the contents of a parcel and who is visually lost therein. We see another man who, in the cover of a bridge, burns a manuscript that seems to both fascinate and disgust him. A young women who is waiting and seeking a last refuge in her music we may regard as some form of resistance against an environment with which she can longer identify herself. While arranged mostly in pairs or groups, the individual figures are enveloped in an atmosphere of solitude. Indeed, it seems that each protagonist is caught up in a separate and disruptive activity or in a disoriented waiting position, which both bear a resemblance to obsession. Thus, the combination of location, dusk or dawn reveals a world that appears to be in denial of the people within it, a world that cannot provide answers and puts them off instead. What is the reason for the denial?
Again, vic & chris leave it to us to find answers. Their images are an appeal: a warning against the zombification of a society that detaches itself from collective projects, even rejects them and erects walls instead. As creatures zombies are both dead and alive, searching for something they can (no longer) have. And we ask ourselves whether these images happen in front of us or within us.