Fernsehen
Gottfried Bechtold
Fernsehen, 1972
Video, black and white, sound, 11 min Director: Wolfgang Lesowsky Photography: W. Spindler Produced by: ORF
GF0001827.00.0-1997
Artwork text
The artist walks off a bridge and gets into a VW bus. The camera is waiting for him in front of the vehicle and climbs into the back seat with him. It remains fixed on Bechtold while doing so and during the car ride that follows. Bechtold repeatedly turns towards the camera with a sidelong glance. Bechtold can be seen like this during the entire trip, which lasts about ten minutes. The car turns off the road and stops in an area that looks like a quarry. Bechtold jumps out of the car and starts running. The camera follows him again. Suddenly, he turns, aims a revolver at the camera, and pulls the trigger. At this point, this picture is turned off by Bechtold, who is suddenly sitting in a lounge in front of a television. He gets up, goes towards the camera again with a revolver in his hand, and fires a shot. Once more, Bechtold gets up, turns off the television, goes towards the camera, and fires. After several repetitions of this loop, he runs out of ammunition. (Reinhard Braun)