Force II In 1998 a new museum dedicated to the work of
the painter Felix Nussbaum opened in Osnabrück. The Dutch video artist Peter
Bogers was invited to develop an installation for a specific location inside
the museum complex, referred to by the architect Daniel Liebeskind as the
’Vertical Museum’. A video-screen, which is hanging close to the
ceiling high above one's head, shows a clenched fist and the palm of a hand
slowly rotating together. One after the other either the hand or the fist
trembles. Just when the quivering changes from the hand to the fist or vice
versa, a strong flashlight is triggered off and lights up the screen. The
slight ticking sound of the flashlight is heavily amplified. An unknown
symbol was created via simple image manipulation, juxtaposing the classic
symbol of power (the fist) and the symbol of fragility and vulnerability (the
opened hand). |