Video installation

Tuesday, 31.01.2017

Jonas Brinker

In Jonas Brinker’s video work “Tuesday, 31.01.2017”, the gaze of a cat into the camera of the artist is both the literal reflection of the camera light in its retinas as well as the contemplative reflection on a relationship.

A cat hides in the bushes. It is night, the cat‘s eyes reflect the camera light.

Jonas Brinker, Tuesday, 31.01.2017. HD video, 4.12 min

Courtesy of the artist

In a car park, the tension of their meeting develops both hesitantly and challengingly: how do these two creatures, human being and animal, encounter each other, what contact does their gaze create, who leads whom?

Both manifest their connectedness in their shared movement, in their nightly prowl through the human-made asphalt landscapes and green areas. Again and again, the trust seems about to topple over, then the gaze of the cat centres the camera, followed by short sequences of escape and moments of lurking. After just a few steps, the structure becomes a dance. It ends where it began and, in a circular loop on the visual level, points out the inexpressible nature of such encounters.