How Can I Forget Myself?

Curated by Tasja Langenbach (Künstlerische Leiterin der Videonale Bonn)

Sweaty skin, widened eyes, screaming mouths, undulating bodies: a collective in a frenzy, united in the ecstasy of the moment when the music rolls over the crowd at full volume, the beat penetrates under the skin and causes something in us to vibrate that we cannot escape... "Being in a frenzy" describes a state of loss of control in which we surrender physically and mentally to something that allows us to transcend the narrow boundaries of our ego - for example, during a concert visit experienced collectively.

The video work "Rapture (silent anthem)" by Angelica Mesiti shows images of this collective sinking into music. As viewers, we may even recognize ourselves in them. For the need for these moments of relief seems to be originally inscribed in all of us and is perhaps particularly great in our modern society, which is trimmed to constant productivity and willingness to perform.

Artists approach this topic in the medium of video in very different facets: The exhibition "How Can I Forget Myself?" shows a total of six works by internationally renowned video artists, which can be discovered around the theater building. The works by Stephanie Barber, Layton Lachman, Angelica Mesiti, Florian Pugnaire & David Raffini, Michael Robinson, Andrew Norman Wilson take us on a journey into some of the many possible worlds of intoxication and ecstasy.

In cooperation with Videonale - Festival for video and time-based art forms

Open daily from one hour before the start of the event in Raffelbergpark