Organic escalator
2000
Video installation
14min.
Aernout Mik's video installations tackle serious topics in an irrational, grotesque way. In Organic Escalator, he shows a group of expressionless people as they climb up an escalator in a building that seems about to collapse.
In his film, Aernout Mik observes human reactions to an unusual situation: against all odds, the characters he presents remain stoic in the face of danger. The ‘cardboard’ set renders the action less dramatic. In the end, the comic and even burlesque effect surpasses the drama. In order to puzzle viewers even further, the film is projected in a slightly mobile box that accompanies the camera movements. The perception is thus disrupted and takes viewers to a surreal world.
Aernout Mik's Organic Escalator was first shown by the Pinault Collection in the exhibition The Passage of Time at the Tri Postal in Lille, in 2008.
In his film, Aernout Mik observes human reactions to an unusual situation: against all odds, the characters he presents remain stoic in the face of danger. The ‘cardboard’ set renders the action less dramatic. In the end, the comic and even burlesque effect surpasses the drama. In order to puzzle viewers even further, the film is projected in a slightly mobile box that accompanies the camera movements. The perception is thus disrupted and takes viewers to a surreal world.
Aernout Mik's Organic Escalator was first shown by the Pinault Collection in the exhibition The Passage of Time at the Tri Postal in Lille, in 2008.
Exhibitions
