In the weekend of 12 & 13 March Nein presents two movies by Benjamin Egger in loop at the cinema of Kunsthal Gent. Made possible with the support of the Swiss Art Council Pro Helvetia and the Flemish Government. The performance ‘The Dog in Me’ by Benjamin Egger is scheduled to happen on 10/03 at CAMPO
AND THEN WE TOUCH
Video, Colour, Dolby 5.1, DCP 13‘ 30” 2021
The viewer becomes part of an intimate scene between two pupplayers in a living room. The close-up cinematography shows the soft touches and playful actions of two men dressed as dogs. AND THEN WE TOUCH confronts us with our own needs for sensuality, touch and playfulness as human animals. A shimmering space opens up when the human is touching the non-human.
Egger raises our awareness of the performative nature of categories such as humanity and animality. In his cinematic essay he attempts to make up a post-human identity performed through bodily gestures and grunts. Becoming animal does not amount to a return to a so-called state of nature; on the contrary, it is a hybrid process, deeply “impure”, in which bodies and artifacts merge.
Written and directed: Benjamin Egger
Pupplayers: Aslan and Noah
Cinematography: Andi Widmer
Sound recording and mix: Reto Stamm
Post production: Silvio Gerber
Off-Voice: Darcy Alexandra
Poem: Benjamin Egger
Title Design: Marlon Ilg
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MY BODY IS BECAUSE OF DOGS
Video, Colour, Stereo, HD 14‘ 10” - 2020
Benjamin Egger has spent days and nights with a pack of stray dogs in New Delhi. During the nights they are taking over the urban space for themselves. The video shows the pack at night while we are listening to thoughts on the evolutionary entanglement of dogs and human animals from the off. Egger‘s work rises questions about the influence of the dog on the human animal - not only on the social behavior, but also on the biological development. Human animals have lived with dogs for over 20,000 years. How has that shaped the human self-conception? How essential is the bond between these two hyper- cooperative species? How much dog is the human animal?
Written and directed: Benjamin Egger
Cinematography: Benjamin Egger
Sound recording and mix: Awah Kempf
Off-Voice: Teresa Vittucci
Text: Benjamin Egger