STOP AND GO
video by Werner Schmiedel
1985 color 15 min.

videoart-gallery.com

Festivals:
World Wide Video Festival, The Hague (NL)
Cafe Krasnapolsky, Kopenhagen (DK)
JVC Tokyo Video Festival, Tokyo (JP)

"Advance of the binary world; schizophrenia of modern man; resurgence of faith in ancient philosophical techniques of handling aesthetic values and moral stances. Blurb-speak spring immediately to mind as you watch 'Stop and go', in which Schmiedel films his move to New York from his own point of view. Go stands for a tilled camera and fast intercutting of images, producing kaleidoscopic changes of colour. The sound is turned to fortissimo and attempts to reach crescendo. The proverb 'See Naples and die' is modernised to read 'See New York and die of exhaustion on the spot'. Stop! At the weekend we excape from Manhattan and Coney Island and stand peacefully watching the barriers at some level crossing come down, stay down. Perhaps we hope they will sometime go up again. The choice seems clear to me."
-- Erik Daams, Catalogue WWVF 1986