Statement
D(z)iga is one continuous extreme wide shot of the Contra Dam, the second largest dam in Switzerland located on the Verzasca River in Ticino. It became a popular location after a James Bond stuntman jumped off it in the opening scene of the 1995 film GoldenEye. The title is a play on the word “diga” which means dam in Italian and a salute to the Russian documentary filmmaker and cinema theorist Dziga Vertov.
If the viewer remains attentive to the image, at a certain point a bungee jumper is seen falling through the frame. As time passes the figure reappears suspended in mid-air and is lifted in and out of the frame. Through framing, I allowed for time and an action to unfold. What was revealed is a symbolic figure where the convergence of natural and built environments bind a body’s placement within them. The figure is disorientated, falling and then pulled against the immense backdrop of a structure that enforces our will over nature, which is now being re-used as a source of accepted entertainment.
Projected Film
– D(z)iga, 2012-13, high-definition color video, silent, 4:05 min, Switzerland, Marco G. Ferrari (personal, film work). https://marcogferrari.com/work/dziga/
Exhibition
– Nacelle: a video art exhibition by Marco G. Ferrari , Blanc Gallery, Chicago, IL, February 28–May 1, 2015 (solo exhibit). Exhibited Nacelle, 2013-15 and D(z)iga, 2012. https://marcogferrari.com/exhibition/nacelle-a-video-art-exhibition-by-marco-g-ferrari/
