Michal Kosakowski.

* 1975 in Stettin, POL, lebt und arbeitet in Berlin, GER

Studium an der Academy of Commerce in Vienna, AUT

 

Ausstellungen [Auswahl]:

2011 Just Like the Movies, Nassauischer Kunstverein Wiesbaden, GER
2010 Modern Wars, Multiplicidade, Oi Futuro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2007 Fortynine, Lothringer 13, Städtische Kunsthalle München, GER
Fortynine Inside, ZKMax, München, GER
2006 Just Like the Movies, Lothringer 13, Städtische Kunsthalle München, GER

Zero Killed

Date: 2011
Lenght: 80:50 min.
Format: 16:9
Specifications: Colour, Sound, Single Channel
Courtesy Michal Kosakowski Films
 

 

„Zero Killed“ ist eine Dokumentation, die sich mit Tötungsfantasien auseinandersetzt. Ab 1996 produzierte Kosakowski Filme, in denen er Personen aus unterschiedlichen Kontexten zu ihren Mordgedanken befragte und sie anschließend diese Gedanken in die Tat umsetzen ließ. Diese inszenierten Morde bilden die Grundlage für „Zero Killed“ und werden gespielt von ebenjenen Menschen, die diese Fantasien erdacht haben. Zehn Jahre nach Beendigung des Projektes macht sich Kosakowski erneut auf und interviewt die damaligen Protagonisten zu ihren Intentionen, Erlebnissen und dem Effekt, den die „Verwirklichung“ ihrer Morde mit sich brachte. Die Erkenntnisse fallen sehr unterschiedlich aus, gemein ist jedoch allen, dass sie die Umsetzung der ursprünglich nur gedachten Tötung genossen haben. In „Zero Killed“ reihen sich Filmausschnitte und Interviewsequenzen aneinander. Im schnellen Wechsel zwischen dargestellter Tötung und dokumentarischer Interviewsituation  ist der Betrachter hin- und hergerissen in der Beurteilung der Situation. Die Protagonisten sprechen mit Freude über ein tabuisiertes Thema und manches Mal mit solcher Nüchternheit, dass es schwer zu glauben ist, dass diese Delikte nicht stattfanden. Kosakowski spielt auf eine menschliche Vorstellungskraft an, die - so glaubt man seinen Interviewpartnern - einem jeden von uns innewohnt und die, trotz aller Brutalität, auch als befreiend empfunden werden kann.

Patrick Haas

 

 

Interview:

 

► 1. Your work has been chosen among over 2000 festival entries to participate in VIDEONALE.14. In which context do you prefer to present your work, festival/cinema context or exhibition? And what kind of difference does the respective mode of presentation mean for you / your work?

 

Let me explain this question on the original idea of "ZERO KILLED". The reason why I was shooting the short films on murder fantasies was the video-installation called “FORTYNINE” which was shown in 2007 at the Lothringer 13 Kunsthalle in Munich, Germany. It was a 5x4x3 meters mirror-walled cube that you could enter and look at 49 short films simultaneously which were back-projected on a screen. So basically, when you were standing in front of the projection wall, the reflections of the projection gave you the impression of being inside a room with infinite TV-screens in which not the content, but an army of millions of TV-screens was looking at you and you as a spectator became part of the installation, looking at the screens. The viewer was confronted with the unpleasant state of shock, only the closer view on the content revealed the short films on murder fantasies that were depicted on each screen. Firstly, this video-installation was my attempt to critisize the violent images on television itself that we are consuming non reflectively every day and secondly, to look at violent content in a surrounding that is far away from a safe home with a cozy couch where you can sit down and relax in front of TV.

Since it was very difficult to find money to set up the video-installation in other places, I asked myself in 2008, how it could be possible to bring the “FORTYNINE” short films on a big cinema screen. That seemed to be a logical step for me to distribute the short films. Just putting them one by one in a row, like an anthology film, wouldn’t be enough for me. That would be more likely to create a voyeuristic film rather than to bring up a critique on the depiction on violence as “FORTYNINE” had. So, within the creative process I came up with the idea to meet the participants of the short films again and to create video-interviews in which the participants were confronted with questions like “If someone murdered a person you love, how would you feel about it? Should torture be legalized? How would you define good and evil? Are soldiers murderers? What causes rampages? Are you for or against the death penalty?”. This juxtaposing with the fictitious murder fantasies and the real documentary style material allowed me to create similar critiques on the topic of violence as with the video-installation “FORTYNINE”. Furthermore, the end product which is the movie “ZERO KILLED” turned out to be a self-reflective docudrama which for me has a double-effect on the audience: While being affected by the horror depicted in the dramatizations of murder fantasies, we immediately have a direct or indirect “real” comment on the horror that is presented to us by the same persons which are the fictitious killers. At the same time we question what is more horrifying – the murder fantasies of normal people or the comments that the participants are popping out at us. Inevitably the dramaturgical structure of “ZERO KILLED” forces the audience to question themselves, “Do You Have Murder Fantasies?”, and towards issues such as revenge, good vs. evil, war, torture, rampage, media, domestic violence etc. Maybe “ZERO KILLED” is not so much about understanding the graphic violence, but more about feeling yourself and understanding your points of view through an unconventional approach.

So finally, both modes of presentation, festival/cinema and exhibition are important for my work to create an idea of a "bigger picture".

 

 

► 2. Art can be seen as a mirror that registers and reflects life or as a tool that transforms it. Is there a particular theme, concept or problem your art addresses the most?

 

Violence in all its past, present and future forms, expressions, imaginations and consequences is at the center point of my creative work. Limits are often exceeded by violence - their crossings fascinate me the most.

 

 

► 3. In which way is the video medium an excellent possibility to express your intended subjects, especially in contrast to other media you use? Or do you work exclusively with video?

 

As a video- and filmmaker I can reach the most diverse public with my films. "ZERO KILLED" was screened at different venues such as the Documentary- and Anthropological Film Festival, the Horror Film Festival, the Underground Film Festival, educational institutions and universities and exhibitions. "ZERO KILLED" unifies all those different audiences with different backgrounds who would probably never meet in person. I work mostly with video because for me it is the most manipulative media tool with the highest possible expressive power.

 

 

► 4. If you have the chance to ask the visitors of the VIDEONALE.14 exhibition questions about your own work, what would be your question?

 

Do you have murder fantasies?
 

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