Wasserlauf
(1998)

Pascale Grau's video works are strongly characterized by a working process in which performative action, performing in front of and for the camera, plays a central role. The means the artist uses in her actions to transfer the performative aspect, the direct experience of gestures and physical presence to the other, "recording" medium of video, can be seen particularly clearly in the installation Wasserlauf. On two free-standing projection surfaces positioned five centimeters apart, Grau juxtaposes two videos in mirror image, each rotated by 90 degrees. The images show two pairs of legs moving over a surface of water, appearing to move away from each other in slow, determined movements and yet not budging. On closer inspection, striking details catch the eye: the constantly changing direction of the water's flow, the red-painted toenails and, above all, the (depth-)spatial nature of the video images, which corrects the initial impression of a montage. The videos reflect the actual (recording) situation. Hanging three meters above a river on a bridge, Grau films her kicking legs with her own hands and records their movements from different positions: with the body facing upstream or downstream, with the camera turned towards or away from the body. The sound, a march played by a tuba, lends the installation a sense of urgency. It interacts with the rhythm of the movement of the body parts and reinforces the impression that this "idling" is not only an unsuccessful but highly precarious endeavor. (Irene Müller 2009)