95. ADVENTURES OF THE BLIND
(The Sack-2)

Six sacks filled with potatoes were deposited around the grounds and inside the premises of the Frankfurt Goethe University (former I. G. Farben). Inside the sacks were placed six tape-recorders in “play” mode. These tape recorders played soundtracks from the Japanese film “Adventures of the blind” featuring Sh.Kutzu in the role of Zatoichi (60 minutes long).

At the same time a video was projected onto a wall (this video was an edited version of the action ‘The sack’). The screening was silent and the video consisted of 3 parts: 1 – 5 minutes “the sack on the rails”, 2 – 20 minutes “the viewers dragging the sack”, 3 – 5 minutes “close up: potatoes are being thrown onto a pole which has two tape-recorders and clock attached”). Whilst the video was playing, the film “Adventures of the blind” was transmitted on a TV (with sound).

After this a tape recorder was turned on (30 minutes of recorded sound taken from one of the tape-recorders on the pole during the “The sack” performance – the sound of potatoes hitting the pole). As this happened the video projector on the wall started screening the video “Vasnetsov” – a section of “The sack” performance – that contained the scene in which viewers were throwing potatoes at the pole (filmed at a distance).

Meanwhile, The “Adventures of the blind” continued to pay on the TV but this time without the soundtrack. At the same time participants of the action, started bringing the sacks into the auditorium and arranging them in a row near the stage (the tape-recorders inside sacks continued to play the soundtrack from “Adventures of the blind”). The sacks were untied and the ropes were handed to S.Romashko, who was sat at a table behind the stage and he had begun to produce the performance factography (documentation): small pieces of rope from the sacks were attached to paper cards which contained details of the date of the action.

When the tape recordings and the film “Vasnetsov” had finished, the tape-recorders were taken out the sacks and placed on the stage. The recordings finished at different times (this was because at the very beginning of the action, the tape recorders in the sacks were not switched on simultaneously and consequently they were switched off at different times as well). The soundtrack of the film playing on the TV was resumed, and the factography (documentation) was handed out to viewers.

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Frankfurt

26th of April 2002

N. Panitkov, A. Monastyrski, S. Romashko, E. Elagina, I. Makarevich, S. Haensgen.