THE IMPOSSIBLE MOVIE PROJECT BY J&K
THE IMPOSSIBLE MOVIE PROJECTby J&K
At the core of this project is the notion of Impossibility itself. Theworkrevolves around a quest for perfection, the perfect state of being, the perfect place, Utopia realized, Paradise on earth. Theimpossibilityofthisliesinhumanity’s paradoxical existence between striving towards ideals and the failure immanent in doing so: the gap between the conceptual possibility and the experienced impossibility of reaching, representing or preserving a perfect state. TheancientBabylonianmythofthedestructionoftheTowerby God before it reaches the heavens symbolizes this very basic condition of human civilization, and ultimately demarcates our modern lives from a paradisiac existence.
TheImpossibleMovieProject is a filmthatpromisesultimatesolutionstodangerous questions, and therefore has to remain non-existent. Yet these questions need to be raised. Does a perfect state of being exist, but are we simply not able to access it? Do we at all want to give up our imperfect lives as they are, do we dare to reach for the stars and grab them? Is the striving for ideals exactly what hinders us from living them? Is perfection located outside ourselves, or does it simply need to be discovered within us? Should we just accept everything as it is and regard the imperfection of what is as perfection, and wouldn’t this lead to a completely amoral state? How does an obstacle become a vehicle towards perfection, and vice versa? Are we constantly fooling ourselves by building models of a perfect life, and will we therefore remain forever trapped in a hamster-wheel of approximation?
We want to scrutinize our own personal and artistic journey and our desire for a perfect life and a perfect work of art: to make a perfect movie, a movie that finallyshowshowwecanovercomehumanlimitationsandtears down the borders between art and life, between representation and experience. As this project circles around a non-realizable centre – the impossible movie about realizing perfection – we will go about it by creating what is usually regarded as by-products of and preliminaries to such a production: the filmset, the costumes, fragments of the performance and the cinema trailer.
The movie itself is an illusion – both as a medium and in terms of what it sets out to do. This is a paradoxical task, and possibly an impossible endeavour. But it needs to be attempted, since it is our task as human beings to explore and challenge the relation between the possible and the impossible. We will climb the holy mountain! The path is the goal.
published in Pist Protte 67, May 2010 and in J&K's "The Perfect Stage" catalogue.