Extra Life (and Decay)

We control the game. The demonstrators on the screen are not just our avatars, they are fighting for their and thus for our rights. They demand a society without corruption and crime, a life in freedom. Virtuality becomes part of our own reality. And the imagined place could be anywhere.

As an intelligent elevator discovers the world, we get to know the invisible links between extreme heights – the mega-tall tower, a speculative object and symbol for social, cultural and economical domination; and extreme depths – the deep mine, a place of natural wealth extraction and colonial exploitation. As doubts, fears and desires melt in the consciousness of the elevator, existence becomes a battle to justify itself.

A voice-over guides the viewer through an underground depot of historic and imaginary relics, from the Alhambra to Romeo and Juliet's balcony. While the anonymous voice strings together backstory after backstory, a parallel history emerges from the darkness of this beautifully decorated limestone quarry, shaped by fantasy, boredom, faith and power.