Two Homes

Hörner/Antlfinger

2013

 

In »Two Homes«, Hörner/Antlfinger work
with footage found on a youtube channel
by bluepearly03. More than 100 films
show the life of a bird from the perspective
of a Japanese woman at home.
Prompted by hand signals, the little
parrot performs complex tricks, lets
itself be petted for several minutes or
gets involved in a game with a ball. Night
recordings show the animal sleeping in
its nest. From a selection of different
sequences, the artists have constructed
a daily routine, in which play alternates
with learning and cuddling. At the end
of the day, the evening song is sung.
In the split screen video, the close-up
sequences, filmed without tripod from
the perspective of the woman, encounter
the artists’ static wide camera angle.
The latter shows the closed complex of a
poultry-breeding factory farm somewhere
in the country; in the background, wind
turbines are rotating. While the gaze of
the viewer involuntarily focuses on the
house pet – on its intelligence, its joyful
play and its trusting nature – the image
of the factory complex, in which nothing
appears to be happening, gradually dissolves.
Both image tracks are acoustically
connected through an evening song,
a classical poetic form, devoted to the
end of a fulfilling day. All animals, also
the wild ones, find their way home in
this song. »Two Homes« is a reflection on
human-animal relations in the 21st century
– on our relationships with priviliged
animals, whose cognitive abilities we
find fascinating and whose confidingness
affects us, and on our relationships with
animals that we keep hidden from view.

Single channel video
HD, 9:50 min, colour, stereo