Duration: 6:05 Minutes
Colour and Sound

The video „Chroma“ deals with the increasing use of light as an instrument of urban branding. More and more cities develop masterplans for the nightly illumination of urban space to increase their attractiveness. This kind of luminous advertising makes the city itself the advertised product. It becomes an object in the shopwindow of global competition.
The video shows a person sitting on the backseat of a parked car, being illuminated by the light reflected from the surrounding buildings. Additionally there is a voiceover with a text that brings to discussion the aims and effects of the illuminated urban space.

An excerpt from our text: "At nightfall the city loses its identity. As soon as the employees leave the offices, the high-rises disappear from the night sky. The city loses its face. We have a plan to solve this problem, a masterplan.
The skyline is our capital, a brand from which we'd like to benefit also by night.
We use the possibility to work out the characteristics of the city, to create new priorities, to stress certain aspects, to interpret them and retouch them if necessary.
We cannot correct the structural defects, but we can divert from them. By a skillful dramaturgy we prevent the confrontation with the drawbacks of the city center. Certain areas are simply faded out. (...)"

Actress: Kerstin Loose
Voice: Julia Mantel

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© Wiebke Grösch/Frank Metzger