The 5-channel video installation inside the body of the ship MS Dauerwelle as part of the “Breminale 2026” is the result of a collective site-specific exploration, referencing methodologies and approaches of the Situationist International movement. The core of the work is a collective chain of associations, ranging along a few predefined keywords.
In girum imus nocte ecce et consumimur igni. This ancient palindrome and title of a 1978 film by Guy Debord represents the bi-directional nature of the chain of associations and contains the basis for the work’s title in its translation: “We go around in circles in the night and are consumed by fire” Tide level – The River Weser in Bremen is subject to the tide levels of the North Sea, causing the ships on it to move vertically, even when anchored to a fixed place. 1962, as the birth year of this ship Dauerwelle, Water and Drift (connecting to the Situationist technique of Dérive as well as the mode of movement of a ship)
…→ In girum imus nocte ecce et consumimur igni → Fire → Circle → Spiral → Google Maps → Direction → Tide level → Tide → Tide gauge → Amsterdam → North Sea → North Sea flood of 1962 → 1962 → Fluxus → Düsseldorf → Rhine → North Sea → Water → Earth → Human Geography → Cultural Geography → Psychogeography(Psychological) → Dérive (Drift) → Drift → Drift Ice → Navigation → Canal → France → Avant-garde → Letterist International → In girum imus…
Navigating along and between these keywords, using hyperlinks in the online encyclopedia “Wikipedia”, a chain of 29 words emerged. For each word a short video clip was produced by a member of the group, which then became a video installation inside the main body of the ship. To resemble the connections and to move the bodies of the spectators through the ship, the clips were orchestrated algorithmically to “jump” through 5 wooden projection screens of varying dimensions. Once a clip ended, one of the projection surfaces in sight lights up, displaying the following clip. Using a weighted randomness with restrictions and rules, a certain flow of bodies throughout the whole ship created a large number of possible paths through the ship’s interior.
