Reiner Ruthenbeck
«Object for the Partial Concealment of a Video Scene»

I was interested in creating a zone of tranquillity that remains wholly unchanged and unaffected by the hectic goings-on about it. The viewer can interpret the film in two ways. One might say the black area is dead, lifeless, surrounded by the richness of life – in that case, something negative happens (or doesn't happen) in the middle. But a different approach is just as feasible: outside the hectic activity, inside the absolute, motionless, serene. I would like to leave this ambivalence intact.
Reiner Ruthenbeck

Black squares and rectangles are used to cover up unwanted spots of light in film. Their purpose for Reiner Ruthenbeck is the 'partial concealment of a video scene'. The tape shows an inanimate object filmed from some distance in the middle of a busy pedestrian zone. At the beginning, the camera zooms in so close that moving images are nothing more than a frame surrounding the object. At the end of the tape, the camera zooms back to its original position. In addition to the videotape version, the work is executed as a video installation featuring the object and a monitor.