Synkope

The video work ‘Synkope’ (Syncope) by Clemens Wittkowski follows the movements of a key, staged in a negative shot, which supposedly unlocks a door, accompanied by repetitive piano playing and deep rolling noises from inside the door lock. Options to open something, to open up, to step over a threshold, and to communicate in various ways are present everywhere, just like the almost powerless feeling of wanting to close yourself off from something or having to end something. The turning of the key in the door lock is the dissecting moment of truth and stands as a metaphor for the human conflict about what may come. At the same time, however, the possibility of unlocking or locking also offers a safeguard for what gives us strength, courage, stability, and protection. The actual transformation, which is not explicitly shown in ‘Synkope’, but resonates latently, is the symbolized transcultural emotion of change that connects us humans worldwide.