Illusion of Safety; Process

The video work "Process" was recorded by Gvoon Arthur Schmidt on Wednesday 25 December 2013 at 13:18 at the Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial.

The audible sound of the video work "Process" is based in post-production on a soundtrack used by Illusion Of Safety (Daniel Burke), which appeared under the title "Revealing The Process" on the release "In Session" in 2008. The mastering of the music used here was done by Thomas Dimuzio @ Gench San Francisco. Furthermore, the video image and the sound with the breathing noises of myself recorded in it and the camera noises recorded at the same time were used in a video work recorded on 25 December 2013 at 13:18, which was realised in cell (room) 127 on the ground floor in the cell wing of the Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial, the former central remand prison (UHA) of the Ministery of State Security (MfS) of the German Democratic Republic (GDR).

Because very often I just sat on my stool, where I always sat when I wasn't walking up and down the cell or just standing around absent-mindedly. But most of the time I actually sat on my stool because the house rules demanded it. During the day, you weren't allowed to lie in bed to rest, even if your exhaustion was overwhelming and your limbs ached. The guards were constantly checking on me, like merciless shadows watching my every move. I would often sit in the cell in front of my bed, my eyes empty and hopeless, and just stare ahead of me. Time stretched out agonisingly, every moment seemed never-ending and to last an eternity. Out of sheer boredom and despair, I counted the boxes on the sheet in front of me, again and again, until my eyes flickered and the shapes began to blur. It was as if my soul was being pulled a little further into the abyss with every box I counted, lost in the monotony and desolation of this endless waiting for something to happen. My loneliness ate into my innermost being like a heavy, suffocating cloak of despair and powerlessness. The hours passed very slowly during the day, without any hope of change, without seeing any light at the end of this dark tunnel. Every time I thought it couldn't get any worse, reality proved me wrong. The stool, the cot, the boxes - they became my silent companions in this merciless isolation, witnesses to my silent inner torment.

More information on the work used by Illusion Of Safety (Daniel Burke) can be found at: illusionofsafety.bandcamp.com/track/revealing-the-process and all previously published works by Illusion Of Safety at: illusionofsafety.bandcamp.com. The publicly accessible video works are available here on Youtube at: www.youtube.com/@illusionofsafety

Oft habe ich einfach auf meinem Hocker gesessen, wo ich immer gesessen habe, wenn ich gerade nicht in der Zelle auf- und abgelaufen bin oder einfach nur abwesend in der Gegend rumstand. Aber die meiste Zeit habe ich eigentlich auf meinem Hocker gesessen, weil es die Hausordnung so verlangte. Denn tagsüber durfte man nicht im Bett liegen, um sich ausruhen zu können, selbst wenn die Erschöpfung übermächtig war und die Glieder schmerzten. Die Wärter haben das auch ständig überprüft, wie unbarmherzige Schatten, die jeden meiner Schritte überwachten.
Oft saß ich dann in der Zelle vor meinem Bett, den Blick leer und hoffnungslos, und glotzte einfach vor mich hin. Die Zeit dehnte sich dabei quälend, jeder Moment schien nicht zu enden und eine Ewigkeit zu dauern. Vor lauter Langeweile und Verzweiflung zählte ich die Kästchen auf dem Betttuch vor mir, immer wieder, bis mir die Augen flimmerten und die Formen anfingen zu verschwimmen. Es war, als ob meine Seele mit jedem gezählten Kästchen ein Stück mehr in den Abgrund gezogen wurde, verloren in der Monotonie und Trostlosigkeit dieses endlosen Wartens, dass irgendwas passierte.
Die Einsamkeit fraß sich in mein Innerstes, ein schwerer, erdrückender Mantel aus Verzweiflung und Ohnmacht. Die Stunden vergingen am Tag quälend langsam, ohne Hoffnung auf eine Veränderung, ohne ein Licht am Ende dieses dunklen Tunnels. Jedes Mal, wenn ich dachte, es könne nicht schlimmer werden, belehrte mich die Realität eines Besseren. Der Hocker, die Pritsche, die Kästchen – sie wurden zu meinen stummen Begleitern in dieser unbarmherzigen Isolation, Zeugen meiner stillen, inneren Qual.

The entire "Interior" project and the resulting video work "Process" is essentially based on the one black rubber cell that I rebuilt here in a different location. This cell as a space, or as a place that has been created, has stayed with me since my first contact with it in Hohenschönhausen. Maybe also because when you enter this room, it just presses down on everything. You can't put it into words. At least I can't. In this project, this black padded cell serves as a kind of metaphor for all the other rooms in this world that have been turned into places, into which people are brought by unscrupulous others into an exceptional situation, into which those affected are then completely alone,,,, There is something in the minds of those people, even if there is a certain kind of empathy, i.e. the ability and willingness to understand and feel the feelings, thoughts, emotions or even the thoughts of other people. Whereby everyone thinks differently,,,

This black rubber cell (detention cell, sedation room) of the Stasi exists in reality far below as a real existing Raum 2 at the lowest point in the Basement des North wing (cell wing) of the former zcentral pre-trial detention center  (UHA) of the Ministry for State Securityt (MfS) der German Democratic Republic (GDR) and today's Memorial in Berlin-Hohenschönhausen.

Innen is deliberately not externally determined in any respect, neither financially nor intellectually.

Visit Youtube directle for further and other video works created or take a look at all the works created so far for "Innen" here,,,

The entire "Innen" project is managed by GMO - The Label .