noli me tangere
door barbara van male
The Fire Sermon was exhibited at Heesterveld 57 in Amsterdam South-East. As Amsterdam enters ‘Gedeeltelijke lockdown’, The video has been made viewable from home.
The Fire Sermon inhabits a world where artists adopt outlandish personas against a backdrop of a society in permanent crisis. This short film follows Solid Mercury and Dead Stirnerman, the hosts of an artistic television broadcast, who try to turn the ever-changing situation to their advantage to support their show.
Things are looking good as the studio radar protects them from outside threats and a government work programme has led to them securing a new intern to work beneath them. However, their plans are upended when their guest, the famous Doctor Design, reveals a new discovery outside the crisis zone.
In this film, Sophia Simensky and Leslie Lawrence address the idea of employment as a moral value and question whether there is an opportunity in crisis to prioritise social relationships instead of work as an end in itself. Artist Janina Fritz features as ‘Doctor Design’ with her ceramic sculpture and Constantin Dichtl appears as ‘The Intern’.
by Leslie Lawrence & Sophia Simensky