The touch of the unknown
French filmmaker Cyprian Gaillard collaborated with composer and former opera singer Koudlam to make Desniansky Raion (currently showing at the New Museum in their exhibit, Younger than Jesus)
The video above shows one of three parts of the film:
“The first section of the video shows a pitched battle between two hooligan gangs on the parking lot of a housing project in the suburbs of Saint Petersburg, filmed from a neighbouring building. Blues against reds, some wearing white gloves, the two compact groups move forward in an organized manner, then dismantle under shock before regrouping for a new assault. Calling to mind a battle scene in a medieval fresco or a classical painting, the outburst of violence, both savage and codified, is as repulsive as fascinating” (source)
I’ve never been in the middle of any sort of battle or fight but I can imagine, in some way, a sort of strange intoxication surrounding the scene - the rushing of bodies, of blood, thoughts…..
It reminds me of a quote by Elias Cannetti from the book Crowds and Power:
“There is nothing that man fears more than the touch of the unknown…It is only in a crowd that man can become free of this fear of being touched. That is the only situation in which the fear changes into its opposite….Suddenly it is as though everything were happening in one and the same body…..the feeling of relief is most striking where the density of the crowd is greatest.”
Right now I want to walk through a crowded New York City street. Stand one in fifty aboard some packed subway car, catch a strangers eye. Brush up against others. Be pushed gently.
We all want to feel alive.
“See You All” by Koudlam (right click -> ’save as’ to download)
