Gábor Bódy

ARTWORK

video art

1982

English, German

This was photographed at the flat of Gábor Bódy, a DAAD-scolarship holder in West-Berlin. It is a typical terrorist story: a German militant action group holds a middle-aged (presumably) American man and as is usual, they doe everything to frighten him. He is kept in a vacant room tied to a chair, and they try to satisfy only his minimal physiological needs, they photograph him regularly giving him a copy of a newspaper to hold in his hands, etc. When he is left to himself for a short time with a black hood over his head, he drags himself to a nail sticking out of the wall and so he succeeds in tearing a hole in the textile around the eyes - at the cost of bruises. He starts a lengthy monologue in the presence of his captors (with a melancolic organ music in the background). He is seated beside a chessboard, then a revolver is placed within his reach. (...) (László Beke)