Film

Weary from centuries of war, death and destruction, 'The Ocean' (an imagined collective consciousness of all the oceans and seas of the world) takes on corporeal form and travels inland across the rubble-strewn landscape of a former Nazi V2 rocket test site and forced labour concentration camp. This dreamlike journey passes through an area of live munitions still restricted to this day, towards and into a V2 factory building which now functions as a museum. Passing through the stairwells and corridors, it observes present-day life in the museum: an archivist works on the sea-eaten wreckage of a V2 rocket part; a custodian mops the floors and polishes the balustrades of the wartime building; two musicians rehearse for a concert, performing a song once banned by the Nazi regime; and tourists happily explore the vast halls. Incorporating archival footage and filmed on vintage lenses using a vintage aspect ratio, this meditative journey includes a voiceover in which 'The Ocean' contemplates a long and complex relationship with humanity. The minimal electronic soundscape is inspired by archival sounds and inter-cut with an underwater conversation made during an archaeological survey dive to locate and extract WW2 wreckage under the Baltic Sea.

Funded by Stiftung Kunstfonds