2005
16 mm film transfer to DVD with sound.
DEAD LIFT
Raw physical strength is here controlled in the environment of professional competition. Strength is measured for its own sake in an exercise aptly named ‘Dead Lift’.
Aiming at being the strongest and pushing their bodies to extreme limits
can win these individuals public acclaim and remembrance, but this activity is also a fundamentally personal endeavour, bringing either achievement or failure. Engaging in this seemingly banal task, they are taking part in something more profound.
Filled with tension and under extreme stress and pressure, their faces express an almost religious experience. They appear to be pushing through some kind of barrier; their eyes are fixed upwards while their bodies stretch up and unfold.
The look of relief on their faces happens the moment they achieve or fail. This can be the moment of glory and awe where tension gives way to fleeting transcendence, or the point of failure, just before the weight pulls them back down to earth. The weight they lift can be seen as the burden of life, a physical memento mori. The act of lifting is life and the futility of human endeavour.
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