The Camera (36) / 攝像機（36）

2016
video installation
1920 x 1080, 1 min 50 sec on loop
ORWO 36mm B&W film transfer to HD video
original soundtrack from Olympia 1. Teil - Fest der Völker

Olympia, one of the most prestigious propaganda films produced by German director Leni Riefenstahl, documents the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany. Despite its controversial political intention, the film is still regarded as an influential and innovative work in film history. Many critics consider the film to be a praise of Nazi dignity, while they cannot deny that the director also shows the same respect to non-European athletes, including Jesse Owens and Sohn Kee-chung.

As Korea was controlled by the Japanese Empire at the time, when Sohn won the gold medal in the marathon, he was actually a member of the Japanese delegation. To reject his colonial nationality, Sohn intentionally hid the “Hinomaru (日の丸)” on his shirt—the symbol of the Japanese flag—while the Japanese anthem played during the award ceremony. This movement was also recorded in Riefenstahl’s film.

The filming of the Olympic Games can be seen as a construction of national consciousness, either for Nazi Germany or for those athletes who bore national symbols on their tunics. As a filmed object, Sohn tried to reclaim the dominant narrating power of the camera by hiding the national flag, transforming a passive body into an active image in Riefenstahl’s film. The work The Camera (36) attempts to maintain this capacity for power reversal by remaking a fictional documentary in the Olympiastadion Berlin. Through Sohn’s perspective, the work envisions how Riefenstahl made her famous shot of Sohn during the performance of the Japanese anthem.

Performance by Leoni Börger, Martin Mallesa and Adrian Gutzelnig
Special thanks for the support from Olympiastadion Berlin

© 2024 Musquiqui Lab

The Camera (36) / 攝 像 機 （36）

© 2024
Musquiqui Lab

The Camera (36) / 攝像機（36）