by Riccardo Boero June 2003

(rb) If aliens needed some small souvenir to take home with them, what could we offer them? How could we cure their homesickness for Earth? No problem, besi-des the Coliseum and the Leaning Tower of Pisa (which changes colour depending on the atmospheric pressure), there's also a video available which contains explicit sentimental and nostalgic elements" of our dear planet and the human lives which labour on it.

Designed for viewing in 2050, this OVO has been produced by a Cologne-based company and is called, appropriately enough, Souvenirs from the Earth (www.souvenirsfromtheearth.com). Behind the name, there is no hypothetical, intergalactic tourism multinational, just two people: German artist Marcus Kreiss (owner of the .pop racing car" inspired by Marcel Proust, recently on display in the Palais de Tokyo), and the French television journalist Laurent Krivine. The aim of the duo is not just to be romantic and courteous towards unlikely green monsters. In fact, theirs is a social mission. As Marcus points out, the increasing presence of plasma screens, LCOs and projectors in public places and private homes has created an urgent need to find something decent to show on them. In short, if designers and architects foresee a future filled with screens and moving surfaces, then it's important to provide some contents for them. And so videopainting is born, a new means of expression which combines the function of paintings, and anything else we usually hang on the walls, with video. Not just a pop art expression, videopainting is something which defines a means of communication, entertainment and decor. In the DVD mentioned, for example, the choice is of three films accompanied, if you wish, by electronic music provided by the German record label Electrolux. You can join in the sunny movements of bathers on a Barcelona beach, bringing back memories of relaxing Mediterranean summers. Alternatively, in an almost child-like moment, you can dive into a summer barbecue on a camp site in Alsace.

Or, in the last option, you can be hypnotised by the poetic performance of figures moving around a skating rink.
The style of the film is characterised by almost static narration, by photography focusing on the appearance and change of colour, and by a clever use of rhythm. The result is the creation of a setting which is both familiar and relaxing, and evocative and sentimental. As with their last work, the DVD Kindergarten (sound track by Ferenc from the Nitsa Recordings label), coming with the book Chill-out interiors, that can be purchased from the best art bookshops around the world for just a few Euro.
It's a plunge into a psychedelic ring-o-ring-o-roses, created by a group of models doing kids' games: dolls and water pistols, soap bubbles and balls a pastel coloured universe where you can rediscover the desire to play.

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