a video by Maria Korporal
The video above is a short trailer!
The complete video is 3:12 and is shown in festivals or upon request.
Description:
Turn a blind eye = Pretend not to notice
‘please, don’t turn a blind eye to what is happening’ (Oxford English Dictionary)
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the foundational document of the United Nations. It was approved and proclaimed by its General Assembly in Paris on December 10, 1948.
The video shows a cylindrical structure containing 32 small panels similar to video screens, which are however digital prints. The entire world map is shown on the outside of the panels, while on the inside the text of the Universal Declaration is printed in mirror-script. To read the text, which is mirrored on the large steel ball inside the cylinder, one has to look through the openings between the panels. A direct confrontation is impossible and the green, matrix-like letters create a fleeting, fragmented impression.
How many Assembly Members in the United Nations turn a blind eye to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights? How many of the representatives pretend not to notice the dictatorships among the Member States?
© Maria Korporal, 2018-2019
Screenings:
July 4-21, 2019: Empört Euch! Interdisciplinary exhibition project by Kunstverein 68elf e.V. in Bunker K101, Körnerstrasse 101, 50823 Cologne.
December 2018: World-wide festival Global Videos 2018. Gallery Friedman-Projekte was the participating venue in Berlin, with a screening on December 10, 2018. About the exhibition
Speaking voice in the beginning: Declaration of Human Rights read in english (public domain).
Music: excerpt from “Imperfectus Ellipsis” by Braghsdn & Globoscuro (Ángel Sánchez Cervera and Emiliano Pietrini).
The whole album can be downloaded here.
The object in the video was previously shown under the title Totalitarian United / Totalitär Vereint in the exhibition TOTALITÄR | UPDATE18 in VBK-Gallery Berlin, and will be shown on July 4-21, 2019 in Empört Euch! Interdisciplinary exhibition project by Kunstverein 68elf e.V. in Bunker K101, Körnerstrasse 101, 50823 Cologne.
