User:Nicole Hametner/Graduate Research Seminar 2013-TM4.02

>>> Practical steps

During the summer I have worked two month in a factory. The company produces adhesive and sealant for the industry and ships its product all over Europe. The sound of the machines and the quiet monotonous working hours were an interesting experience. There were two days where I did nothing else than sticking labels on cardboard boxes, sometimes 50 of the same label for a small special comission, but also up to 1000 of the same. When I threw away the first charge of the remaining backsides of the labels I was fascinated by the way they felt into the big trash container. I decided to collect the huge amount of the following backsides in a bag and to bring them to Rotterdam to produce a small experimental film. Not only the materiality of the backsides interest me, also the sound and rhythm of removing the label. Then other thoughts came to my mind, about the remainder in general, the idea of adhere to something and the process of detachment. I will test in the coming weeks how I can let the little paper pieces fly through the air and filming them, observe what happens while zooming in and discover some details towards a complete abstraction. Besides that I will record the sound of sticking labels on cardboard boxes and remind myself where I spend the last summer.

This small project follows another idea for a short film I had in mind. It will be shot in the darkroom, the camera is pointing on the rinsing tank where the developed photographs move around in the rythm of the water coming out of the pipe. Like the backsides of the labels in the air, the photographs also turn around, showing for a short instant the image and then turn away in the next moment presenting the reverse side, all accompanied by the ripple of the water.