Newspapers Only
Ulrike Müller and Carola Dertnig take only one minute to look, under somewhat different conditions, at the daily ritual of reading the newspaper. A media-critical perspective, considered a necessary prerequisite, plays only a secondary role. The center of attention is the potential emotional overdose that goes along with reading the news, reflected on here as an inter-subjective phenomenon. The camera remains focused for one minute on the endless stream of people coming out from a full subway, hurrying to work, in a major metropolis. Naturally, the day´s headlines are also there - consumed efficiently during the journey - to be disposed of once again in the designated "Newspaper Only"-container. A voice over comments on the bustle in a way that is as urgent as it is fleeting. Urgent, because it also reports in minute detail the conscious thoughts that go along with the act of reading the paper: "(…) and I start to read. I look at the text, black on white, because I do want to know (…). And I tell myself, not to take it personally, that staff is out there and you´re in here. (...) and isn´t it a peaceful morning, but it isn´t (...). And I start at the top, continue to the bottom headlines first. I tell myself not to take it personally, it is only the world out there, but somehow I always do...". The repetitive structure of the associative stream of consciousness corresponds with the glance each morning at the state of affairs of
the world, which evokes a daily emotional dilemma, which here, too, remains unresolved. But the trusted situation is fleeting and in the end the news remains behind in the subway until the next morning.
(Christa Benzer)
Translation: Lisa Rosenblatt
Newspapers Only
2003
Austria, USA
1 min