VISMIJN

Kunstcentrum Willem3, Vlissingen, The Nederlands, 2004

The video installation is an experimental video documentary that encompasses objects and a wall text as it shows chronologically in detail the entire working process of unloading and sorting manually 20 tons of fish over one night in the communal fishing hall in the Dutch town of Vlissingen; a work done by some 70 men. Symbolic and haptic quality of the images, in which fish and human hands come in touch within an industrial setting, has been chosen to reflect on religion and faith.

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A flotilla of fifteen Vlissingen fishing boats sails out of the port precisely at midnight, every week, on Sunday going on Monday. The flotilla returns late afternoon Thursday loaded with 20 tons of fish. Every Thursday afternoon, 70 workers gather in the Vlissingen fishing hall to work overnight and sort the fish according to size. There is no machine capable of sorting 20 tons of fish in twelve hours to have the fish ready for selling the next morning. Machines would need an entire week to sort that volume of fish, which would mean that every day two boats would need to return with a catch of three tons of fish. For some fishermen, this would mean working on Sundays. But the fishermen of Vlissingen are religious and do not want to work on Sundays. The fish are, then, sorted out manually every Thursday night. Vlissingen is the last place in the Netherlands where fish are still sorted this way. This work belongs to the series in which I try to grasp the issues of religion and faith in different contexts (see Madonna to fish, 2001; The Flowers, 1997, Veduta, 1998). The text above has been the wall text and integral part of the video and object installation. The projection video screen is split into four images showing the chronological order of the work of the Vlissingen fishermen: fishing boats leaving the port and their return several days later; the process of unloading the fish from the boats, and the overnight work of a group of 70 workers in a large fishing hall sorting the fish manually into crates; storing the fish and selling them the next morning at a fish auction and loading the fish onto trucks for transport. Everything takes place in the Vlissingen communal fishing hall, and the 35-minute-long video documents that process using the four-image split screen in order to show the space and dynamics of the workflow in the fishing company in detail. In its original set up in an exhibition space in the town of Vlissingen, besides the video projection the installation included two video monitors featuring interviews with several Vlissingen fishermen, and a sculptural installation of over 200 fish crates, which imparted a distinctive smell to the installation. In the interviews the workers were asked for their opinion on the current political situation in the world, what they would erase from world and Dutch history, as well as what is most important for a good and happy life. I wanted them to reflect on their religion. A note in the margin: When planning this work, and having heart that the fishermen were very religious, I envisioned interviews with fishermen and workers as the second channel of the work, equally significant, when not more, to the video described above. In the final version of the work, however, the interviews didn’t get that prominence, although several interviews have been included in the installation (shown on a small monitor). Why? The main question and the trigger for the interviews was the question: Were you to have the power, what would you erase from the world’s history, and from the Dutch history in particular? From religious people, I expected to hear clear progressive answers about colonialism. My plan was to have a critique of the Dutch colonial past in the second channel of my video installation articulated by religious hard-working men. It did not happen. None of the workers nor fishermen mentioned colonialism on their own. When I dug deeper and asked about their take on that colonial past, they didn’t want to relate to the theme. I understood they were not able to imagine it not to have taken place. I also got the feeling, most of them were not able to see the Dutch colonial past as obstructive development.

CREDITS 
Team Kunstcentrum Willem3, Vlissingen: Leon Riekwel, curator; Fraukje Donn, production assistant, David Smithson, production support. Supported by: the City of Vlissingen, Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia, Cultural Office to the City of Zagreb. Video stills: Kristina Leko. VIDEOWORKS: Vismijn 2004, two channel video installation, 40' + 25’ mini DV edition unlimited camera, editing, direction: Kristina Leko

GENRE&FORMATS
Project: experimental video documentary; project with specific social groups. Artwork/s and artifacts: one and two channel video and object installation with wall text.

 

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