Bertille Bak
FILTER: VIOLENCE AND ITS COUNTERSTRIKES
An old apartment building was threatened to be demolished in Din Daeng District, Bangkok. A shopping mall was to be built at the spot occupied by two thousand households. The residents fought against forced relocation for years, a peaceful protest which went unnoticed by the Thai press.
With the help of a conductor, the inhabitants of one apartment building transformed a revolutionary song into a choreography of light. Turning flashlights on and off, the song lights up from their balconies. Bertille Bak recorded the concert in SafeGuard Emergency Light System: a poetic protest against the system, a protest destined to fail.
Artwork
Safeguard Emergency Light System
video 2010
Bertille Bak (France, 1983)
The recurring theme in the work of Bertille Bak is that of micro-societies. She captures personal and collective histories, customs and rituals in films that travel between fiction, poetry and documentary.