Faits divers

In the info leaflet METTE EDVARDSEN >PROJECTS 2002-2010 the following is written about Faits divers:

"Faits divers is a French journalistic term for 'human interest' stories, a way to provide an encounter with the unexpected and extraordinary ruptures in everyday life. In this small film we play with a human interest story as a starting point for a scene where in fact not so much else is taking place. The film shows an everyday situation with a man who is reading and drinking coffee. The human interest story in the newspaper causes another human interest story, an accident in the present situation of the reader.

The scene is repeated several times by the performer in an attempt to reproduce the video technology by means of his own doing. The actions are also performed in slow motion to then be put back to normal speed by video technology. The interest was both in the challenge of applying the 'technology' of repetition and slow motion in performing this scene, and in what that could produce in return. The reversal of roles between the two media 'artificial technology' and 'authentic performance' are mixed up in the process, creating as an outcome a disturbed 'normality'."

The project was commissioned by La Porta - Barcelona.

Source:

Mette Edvardsen's private archive. Donated by: Mette Edvardsen, 11.12.2010