25′ video work
november 2023, Kanuti Gildi SAAL
created as part of the SAAL3 short-formats evening
more information: https://saal.ee/en/performance/saal3-vol-1-1841/
footage and texts: Liisbeth Horn
project manager: Siim Tõniste
dramaturgical support: Alissa Šnaider
sound mix and master: Markus Palo
performer: Cedric
This video work delves into imprisonment through the parallel of animal captivity. This parallel questions both concepts: 1) the moral and political boundaries between humans and non-human beings and 2) the concept of carceral control itself. The comparison is easy and even banal: by placing human narratives and experiences of imprisonment onto animal bodies in zoo, the work asks what we accept as natural or humane.
I developed the work through the accumulation of personal writing of reflections on a loved one in prison and conversations with formerly incarcerated people. These reflections and interview excerpts were layered as dubbed dialogues onto footage of zoo animals, allowing their bodies to carry human voices and experiences.
The video was structured as a poetic montage, accompanied by original music composed for the piece. As the only performer, a dog appeared on the stage during the credits, casually chewing on a toy, as a final knot, to interrupt the visual logic of captivity and reframe confinement as something disturbingly ordinary.
contact me for the full video.
