The Motion Picture, 2000, "film"

The raw material for Althamer's work is reality - or, rather, that which we routinely and glibly perceive as reality. This perception is, in fact, the element that most interests the artist and radically complicates a usually simple way of seeing the world. The terms 'reality' and 'world' are, after all, interpreted by each in his or her own manner, on the level of the subject, always anew and different. The Motion Picture with which Althamer participates in Manifesta 3 involves a performance taking place in the city, in a busy and always crowded square near the central market. Eleven film and stage actors perform a play every day for approximately 30 minutes. The actors play various, yet completely ordinary roles - a tramp, an old man, a television personality, two very young girls, a policeman, a homeless person, a couple in love, a tourist with a camera, a skateboarder, a street musician, and others. After the play ends, all the characters walk off the stage at once. Some of the actors may be recognised as well-known public figures. The border between reality and fiction ('film') disappears through implementation of the script outlined by the artist. His sensitive yet precise 'direction' enters the realm of the everyday, to question the way we understand and perceive it in all its subtleties.