Material: 3 screens,black box with dividers to suggest you see 5 screens,video-installation
‘Memento Mori’, the cycle of the rabbit, is a video installation about anthropocentrism. It talks about the way man rules the universe as if he were a god.
Image
The background of ‘Memento Mori’ runs over all 5 screens. Like in the art of the Flemish primitives, it shows an impressive landscape with mountains and rocks.
The Rabbit sits in the left panel. Elements of vanity – from his perspective – surround it: wilted flowers and grass, a wrecked sports car, half-demolished apartment blocks, and, above all, a barbecue.
The second panel on the left shows the wife of the sponsor. She prays, facing the central panel. A drago stands next to her, a tree native to the Canary Islands. According to the tradition, its sap stands for the blood of Christ. Hieronimus Bosch represented such a tree in the Garden of Earthly Delights.
The central panel represents Man. He has a bottle of wine (Sangre de Torro), bread and fruits at his disposal. The Man eats the Rabbit serenely; his digestive system will transform it further. Behind him drives the Tractor which will end the Rabbits cycle.
Then the sponsor is represented. He worships the Man.
The panel on the far right shows the Dog, the sponsor’s adjutant. He is surrounded by sewers, trash bags, a toilet, manure – all things that further prepare the remains of the Rabbit to its next stage. This panel already contains the new life: the plants are green and are in bloom.
All the time, in the background, the Tractor spreads manure on the fields, giving life to the plants that will feed new Rabbits in a never-ending cycle. Its trailer displays: “Memento Mori”: remember you must die.
The text as visible on the video link is not visible in the actual installation. It is the text that is sung by the choral.
Music
I composed the music in a fake Ars Nova/Ars Antiqua style, based on a perverted version of the original latin ‘Memento Mori’-text (Lepus natus est ex voluntatum Dei. Lepus, memento mori et tertia dia resurgere. (The rabbit was born from God's will. Rabbit, remember that you will die and resurrect on the third day.) and a fragment that I found on the website of the Vatican that fitted incredibly well in this context (Inflamed with your love, I prefer to die, and I want my members to be cut into pieces as a token of my love for you.)
Actors, from left to right: Calligula (+), Gerda Van Damme, Daniel Del Bravo, Guido Janssens, Askam (+)
