First Shot - full HD video installation with sounds - 50 min., variable dimensions - 2014

 

»After experiencing an extreme outbreak of violence at first hand during a demonstration, I realized how high our own potential for violence can be and how quickly boundaries can be crossed in intense situations. ‘First Shot’ is an analysis of consciously overstepping boundaries. I asked people to come forward who were interested in firing the first shot of their lives using a real gun and real ammunition. This was a genuine situation which wasn’t filtered or made abstract by media. Observed with a high-speed camera, the protagonists are seen before, during and after the shot in extreme slow motion. What interests me isn’t the shot itself, but rather the conscious psychological change in the protagonists: the loss of a kind of innocence which they had before the shot and will never have again.«