THE 240

Mixed media

2018

In a miniature space, an opening to another dimension is offered to the eyes. Only accessible through the windows, this bar interior shows the remains of a past time.

In the old days, sleepy punks slumped at the counter and on the benches populated the space. On the wall, in the back of the room was stretched a canvas on which was projected a scene of Disney’s animated film The Lion King. At that time and place, everybody was staring at the screen.

In that scene, Simba, the protagonist, passed from childhood to adulthood  with a little help from his two sidekicks, Timon and Pumbaa, by carefully walking, eyes closed, on a trunk above the void.

The problem is that this excerpt was shown on a loop, and the attention of those who watched it did not seem to lose in intensity. The people inside the bar looked stunned, trapped for eternity in this time loop.

This place has now been deserted, but the video still goes on. Slow motion, fast forward, fast backward, with, in the background, the sound of water falling into metal pots give this video and this space a strange and soporific dimension.