Caruso Inverso

The work Caruso Inverso is based on a scene from the film Fitzcarraldo (Werner Herzog, 1982), in which the protagonist stands on the roof of the river steamer that he bought for the journey in search of a new route to an unexplored rubber region. With a gramophone he broadcasts the sounds of Caruso into the surrounding jungle. Playing the record is his response to drums that he hears from the banks of the river and that seem un- familiar, unsettling to him.

The work Caruso Inverso is a re-enactment of this scene and a reversal at the same time. A borrowed boat, an object constructed from wood, wire and plastic bags and a member of the collective are the protagonists. Here, however, the gramophone does not emit any sounds, but instead records the sounds of the passing shore and various radio stations and frequencies of the area. The recordings later served as an audiovisual background for an installation.