Astrid van Nimwegen Description

Description of the making of my latest project ‘the Gravediggers’

(How:) In march 2010, I made a 15 minutes during black and white videoregistration/long shot by using two videocamera’s, one for a total shot and one for a close-up (which I never used by the way). A friend of mine did the camerawork and I was the person who performed in the video. Four middle-aged men put into gravedigger-uniforms were my actors. I explained to them what they were expected to do without directing it too much.

(What:) The video starts at the point where I walk into a farmingfield. The temperature was like 5 degrees Celcius. I only wore some white underpants and stood barefooted in the middle of a farmingfield, staring in the distance. Then one by one the gravediggers moved into the framework in a circular motion, their high hats in the one hand and a scoop in the other, me as the centre point, the first man walked the whole circle and took his position on my left side, the second man walked three-quarters and so on. The last man took it’s position right in front of me so I disappeared for a moment. They stood still for about a minute and then simultaneously put on their hats and start digging a large circle around me, putting the earth outside the circle. When they were finished, they stood still for a moment and slowly walked out the framefield on the right side. The video fades out to black, me still standing in the centrepoint. The only sound you hear in the video is the sound of the digging and the sound of birds in the background. It’s a real time piece, so I didn’t cut or edited it. Apart from converting it into black and white afterwards. The video shows a strong black and white contrast, and the best way to display it is by projecting it on a big screen or wall.

(Why:) The Gravediggers is inspired by the pain I suffer from my mom who passed away and also because I’m caught by the circle and its movement – It’s kind of referring to the wheel of life maybe. The concept in many of my works involves the physical and psychological part we’re all dealing with. I think the gravediggers are symbolising the psychological pain I went through (it’s pain caused by an external source) I stand still in the centre point and it becomes clear that my body is also exposed to the torture. By creating the movement, which the gravediggers make, I maybe try to expose the soul and the so-called ‘layers’, which exist in our reality. And try to let the viewer feel the essence of life and hopefully the videoregistration does work like a mirror in which the viewer reflects on hisself. But in the end when I finished the video, my first conceptual thoughts aren’t that important anymore because it’s up to the viewer to see and feel what the piece is about.

Astrid van Nimwegen