LIGHT AS PLAYER
Burkhard Brunn
On board of a double-deck carriage of a regional train the view wanders past two blue backrests through a glass door at the top left – two, three steps up – towards a young, blond women, who is sitting motionless. Sunlight flits over the horizontally assembled handrail in the screen’s centre, wriggles on the steps and slithers up and down the grabpole. The bouncing light is the player in this space. Behind the sectioned windows – just barely visible – trees rush past. Outside speed and inside a sometimes brighter gleaming, sometimes a darker static stillness, which is streaked or abruptly punctuated by flitting light spots accompanied by vague and inscrutable reflections of the landscape that flash by horizontally. At the upper right of the image, there is a display to provide information for the passengers. This monitor either flickers in red, green or blue. Then suddenly all is immersed in red. Red surface. Like an explosion of the monitor. Then the motionless profile of the woman and the scintillating light. Then suddenly all is immersed in green. Green surface. Then the stone-still woman and the straying light. Then all is immersed in blue. Blue surface. Light within space or coloured surface? Space or surface – the long established problem of painting. Then from the front and in full screen, the train conductress approaches, the young women turns her head and will soon get off.
