swinging

A bridge with an arched metal structure stretching over it is visible on a white field. The colors are subdued – gray and black, various shades of brown, blue and green – though they seem quite intense on the light background. The places connected by the bridge aren’t visible; portrayed as an isolated structure, it becomes the focus of an analysis in the medium of film.
In contrast to some of the other videos made by michaela schwentner, the subject is easily recognizable in this case. At the same time the artist discovers an individual life in the architecture, which lets the concrete form slip into abstract patterns.
The perspective shifts repeatedly, and different views of the structure appear. One shot fades into the next, and the movement of the pixels can literally be observed. This creates graphic and painterly moments, the play of light and shadow, lines and planes turns into a hypnotic game of deception.

The camera’s gaze is directed at the structure’s details and unusual views so that individual portions of the bridge no longer seem to be bound to a certain function, and other fields of association open up in its formal structures. The geometric shapes resemble sketches, the cables between the bridge and its superstructure are like drawn lines, which lends the originally monumental structure of concrete and steel something fragile, translucent and with that a buoyant lightness.
In contrast to a sketch, however, swinging also makes the three-dimensional character of its subject tangible, not least through the use of the soundtrac – which was also created by michaela schwentner. The shimmering of the dimensions and the materiality of the representation are underlined by the audio level. Each kind of material seems to have its own characteristic sound, and after electronic alteration it creates an acoustic landscape surrounding the bridge, which seems to “swing” from time to time.
(Andrea Pollach)

Translation: Steve Wilder