Catalogue > Un extrait vidéo au hasard

China at Work is an observational video portraying Chinese factory workers. Filmed in the periphery of Shanghai it shows detail of individuality within the Chinese wirtschaftswunder. Quote: ?By doing the same thing the whole day one can only daydream.? The distorted but hopeful soundtrack consist and refers to classical Chinese music. There is no desire to make a strong statement or point out an opinion with this short film. It is more so an attempt to briefly put on a stage the individual within the masses. In a philosophical way it weavers around desire.

Jan de Bruin ( Delft, 1977) graduated in 2002 from the film department at the Dutch art-school St. Joost in Breda. After his graduation he devoted himself to making personal short documentary videos. In 2003 through 2005 with the support of the Dutch Foundation for Visual Arts he committed himself to the ?In America? project. Via this documentary project the artist tried to find a truth behind the (cinematographic) clichés of the USA. These clichés established themselves in his youth via media culture that did not have their origin in Europe. The short video Calling 911 (6:21min.) made in 2004 is one of the results of the above-described project. Shot in Los Angeles in November of 2003 it tells the story of a rescue operation of eventual mythical proportions. An example of the idea that ? reality ? does not exist but is a constant continuation of narrative. Nowadays de Bruin travels mostly around Europe with camera to film the unseen theatre of reality. To point out the unavoidable narrative. Via these short films de Bruin creates a psychological mirror on everyday life. Usually he records people in urban situations, engaged in interaction with each other. Hereby exploring the boundaries between film and art, as well as reality and fiction but since these are clichés; making foremost an effort to show us ourselves. This may be even a revolt against post-modernism.