What If...

Synopsis

“What if…” is an experimental short film, an artvideo about parallel worlds and changes of perspective. “What if…” deals with the connections between politics, economy and society in our consumption driven world. In the scenes, real meets surreal, idyll meets catastrophe. The focus seems to be on events that are part of our life. But again and again things creep into the picture that normally only take place on the edge of our field of vision…

The protagonists are a bunch of friends, a lonely man, a lonely woman, a table, a boat and an off-screen voice. The friends are sitting in high spirits at a festive table. A large selection of beautifully prepared dishes can be seen on colourful plates in front of them. The glasses are full. People drink, eat and laugh, food is devoured. New dishes keep appearing on the table. Plates, glasses and table rubbish pile up. The feeding orgy never ends…

Artist Profile

Martina Riescher

Martina Riescher was born in 1967 in Oberstdorf/Germany. From 1990 she studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome with Professor Rino Di Coste and graduated in 1995 with an academic diploma. Her work has been shown in international exhibitions since 1992. Since 1993, for Martina Riescher the concept of “space” has always been a political place for the exchange of experiences and feelings, where all those who want to help shaping it, have the opportunity to do so. Since 2006 she has been working on self-portraits. The often ironic photo collages are linked to collective or personal memories. In these dream worlds, time and space are networked in a surreal flow of images. Between archetypes, historical objects and figures and snapshots from her life, she searches for herself in a continuous change of perspective. Important works are occhionasolabbrodente..., Camminare a piedi nudi... Eyes to touch hands to see and non Non conosco il tuo eroe.... Since 2010, her projects have increasingly developed into participatory works, in which the viewer has a decisive influence on the work. The works are primarily food for thought. An example of this is the installation heartbeat 5, in which she confronts the viewer acoustically and tactilely with her most emotional memories. The viewer can actively participate in the creative act and contextualize and change her works based on his own understanding. Her latest projects focus on highly topical political and social issues. Past said so... deals with the living conditions of the victims after the earthquake in the Italian city of l’Aquila. Smoking Constitution is raising public awareness of the topic of Europe in an art campaign in Munich. The Les nouveaux vetements de l’empereur campaign puts the ever-increasing waste problem in Senegal in the spotlight. In participatory projects such as Drifting Walls, which follows directly in Tambacounda in Senegal in 2020, and Hello World 2021 in Italy she points out the importance of cross-border, sustainable connections and cultural interactions between all people significantly involved in the project against the background of shared humanity and experiences.

Credits

ProducerErkan Taskiran
DirectorMartina Riescher
WriterMartina Riescher
D.O.PKaruna A. Fuchs
EditorDanilo Tallini
SoundDanilo Tallini

Director's Statement

The big questions and problems of our time are all interconnected. An infinite number of things happen around the globe every day. We have unconsciously triggered many of them through our behaviour, but we usually do not find out about them. Nevertheless, all of them have the potential to affect our lives. For us, the globalized world seems to be composed of an infinite number of parallel worlds. But we don’t feel “responsible” for most of them. “What if…” is intended as a field of experimentation to sharpen our view of the interrelationships in our globalized society. It wants to make the problems tangible through its pictures. The artist video invites you to stretch your feelers beyond the conventional boundaries of our western hyperculture. How about if cross-border, sustainable connections and cultural interactions against the background of common humanity were not a utopia, but the norm? Could they lead to real changes in the global social system?