The Invisible Hero

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With the help of the special effect “chroma key,” the video shows the artist as an only partially visible person who hits the same brick walls over and over again, though it is not clear if the space is closed or not. Each hit produces more wounds but also more visibility. This video is about conditioning opposed to freedom and critical thinking. It refers to the experiments of Ivan Pavlov at the end of the 19th century who researched how the behavior of animals and humans could be manipulated. The images of this video are accompanied by a voice-over, which describes a therapeutic internal journey of a patient with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Those kind of standardized “visualizations” are designed to free the emotionally frozen body of the patient by going on an inner journey to the wounded places inside the body.

Source
Belleruth Naparstek, Invisible Heroes: Survivors of Trauma and How They Heal, New York, 2004 (pages 251–256)

This work has been shown at
Nach/sichten – Videoarbeiten aus der Sammlung Goetz, Edith Russ Haus für Medienkunst, Oldenburg, 2008
Dealing With Reality, Museum voor Moderne Kunst, Arnhem , 2007
BASE 103, Sammlung Goetz, München, 2005

Spoken Text in Video

And now…see if you can turn your attention inward for a moment…to see how your body is feeling…noticing any sensations in your head…your neck…your shoulders…your arms…and hands…inside your chest…down your back…inside your belly…down your hips and bottom…your legs…and in your feet…just taking a moment to check in with your body…your oldest friend…your steadiest companion…
Still aware of your breathing, in and out…slow and steady…and now taking an extra moment to focus on your heart…sensing how it pulses life and strength, all through your body…strong and steady…
And just becoming aware of how it feels right now, all around and through your heart…because it changes from moment to moment…and maybe you’re aware of some tightness around your heart…some fluttery feelings…or an ache inside…or a heavy sensation…perhaps it feels hard around your heart…or it might feel exposed and vulnerable…you might sense deep pockets of sorrow tucked away inside…but whatever you notice, you’re continuing to breathe deeply and easily…curious but detached…noticing what’s there with the neutral eye of a camera…no praise, no blame…

And so you enter your heart…
And it may seem harsh and dark and cold inside at first, as you look around here in this topmost layer…
Because you’re making your way through crumpled piles of shattered dreams…ragged heaps of lost innocence…

And suddenly you are certain…you know with your whole being…that you are healing…that you will continue to heal…that a time is coming when you will accept your sorrow; dismiss your shame; release your anger; forgive yourself; reclaim your strength; and express your gifts…
And so…breathing deeply and easily…very aware of your hands and your feet…the support beneath your body…your breath in your belly…you can very softly open your eyes…becoming aware of how good it feels to stretch and move again, after being still for so long…
And knowing in a deep place that you are better for this…
And so you are…

From: Belleruth Naparstek, Invisible Heroes; Survivors of Trauma and How They Heal, New York, 2004 (pages 251-256)