Ryts Monet「Air From Another Planet」2023 Commemorative stamps, cutter mats, and acrylic plates related to the Soviet space mission
The film “The Zone of Interest” is about a family living in a compound adjacent to the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1945 during World War II.
There are “sounds” and “sights” that constantly intrude on the daily life of the camps director and his family, who live in an elegant house with a beautiful garden. The “sounds” are the noises of running machines, screams, yells, and gunshots, and the “sights” are the lights and smoke from the incinerators that are still in operation.
This film, which was released in Japan in May 2024 and became a hot topic of conversation by word of mouth mainly through social networking services, is different from previous films on the same theme in that it is an “experiential” film in which the audience experiences the sensation of being absorbed in the work.
The two elements that lead to the experience are the sound and the point of view.
First, the sound is the heart of the film.
It is said that the sound engineers spent a year researching the events of the camps from archival materials. They carefully researched what was happening at each location, collected sounds from all over the city, and designed the sound space.
The sound served as a device to put the audience "in the moment. The sound system causes the audience to go into a time leap, and they are forced to be in the space. There is no way to escape the information from the ears, which are not blocked even if you meditate. The audience is made to feel uncomfortable and become “accomplices” as the director intended.
Second is the point of view.
The film does not use emotional expressions, but uses a fixed-point camera to capture the events from a cold perspective. The multi-camera system (multiple unmanned cameras hidden from the performers) eliminated as much as possible the one-sided viewpoint of a particular person, such as a character, and encouraged the “viewer” to think.
In such a situation where interpretation is left to the viewer, there is a risk that some viewers may feel bored, even though the subject matter is brutal. Boredom here is similar to the feeling of familiarity in everyday life. The act of masking sounds that at first seem uncomfortable and then are regarded as normal is something we do on a regular basis.
However, at the time of visiting a movie theater, it can be assumed that the audience has some interest in the theme, so as soon as they become aware of the habituation, they are alerted and fearful of themselves, which is also a reaction in line with the intention of this film.
I feel that the bias of the “interested audience” is one of the issues that “Areas of Interest” raises.
Lastly, I would like to mention a little about “Birkenau”* by Gerhard Richter, a contemporary German artist who used Auschwitz as his subject matter.
Like the “area of interest,” which forces the viewer to imagine because it does not depict direct atrocities, Richters abstract paintings also remind the viewer of things that are not visible on the surface.
Both paintings also take a different approach to not keeping the past in the past.
In “Region of Interest,” Richter alerts the viewer to the act of habituation, which is often overlooked and buried in the everyday. Richter makes a digital reproduction of a painting in the same size immediately after its completion, and exhibits the original and the reproduction side by side, thus avoiding the original being seen as a "monument. In recent years, works made with mirrors have also been placed in the exhibition space. It seems that the artist is considering the effect of the work and the audience reflected in the mirror.
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The Zone of Interest(2023 / USA, UK, Poland) Directed and written by Jonathan Glazer
Based on the novel by British author Martin Amis
* Gerhard Richter, “Birkenau,” 2014 Oil on canvas
Painting consisting of four pieces. The lower layer of the painting, which is covered entirely with paint applied using a squeegee, depicts four photographic images taken at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.
"Birkenau" (photographic version) 2015-2019 Gigray print, acrylic
text : tomiko mabuchi
Walls Tokyo is pleased to present the work of Rits Monet.
Conflicts around the world continue unabated, and fragmentation begets fragmentation. Rits Monet picks up these fragments and, with the gestures of a poet, attempts a small resistance against an intolerant world. Active mainly in Europe, Ritts has also exhibited his work in Japan.
Ryts Monet 「30 x 30 x 30」
2015 Old postcards 30×30cm
Click here for more information on Litz Monet work.
This column was sent as part of our newsletter dated September 20, 2024.
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