Berlin: BONANZA

BREEZELESS
The group Berlin started their project Holocene (current geological period), a series of city portraits in 2003. Bonanza is the third in the series of four cities and towns: Jerusalem, Iqaluit, Bonanza and Moscow. In their artistic work they focus on a research topic, which they carry out in co-operation with various artists and using academic approaches, interdisciplinary means and within several different media.
Bonanza is shown in a film that is projected over a model of the city. The film shows the city and its inhabitants simultaneously in six frames. The town of Bonanza lies in Colorado, in the United States. When we look at it on Google Earth, we see that the town has a few streets but with only one building on each street. This former mining town used to have a slogan: get in, get rich, get out! Not everyone became rich but almost everyone has left, as Bonanza has now only seven permanent inhabitants. Thus, it gives the impression of a social experiment where – due to the limited contacts with the outside world and the motivated contacts within the community – a complex and at times even unnerving dynamics among the inhabitants are created. As they claim, they are only a microcosmos of the world. Bonanza lies at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, where winds blow in abundance. Despite this, the inhabitants live in a breezeless state of mind, which generates conflicts and strange behaviour. Like everywhere else?

Concept: Berlin (Bart Baele, Yves Degryse, Caroline Rochlitz)
Photography: Bart Baele, Nico Leune
Sound engineer: Tom De With
Editor: Bart Baele
Soundtrack and mixing: Peter Van Laerhoven
Research: Berlin, Nico Leunen
Graphics: Gerjo Van Dam
Scale model: Koen De Ceuleneer
Support scenery: Tom Van de Oudeweetering
Subtitles: Sofie Benoot
Translation to Slovene: Laura Bračič
Software development: Frank Lanssens
Electronics: Dadaelectronics
Set photos: Kim Troubleyn
Aerial photos: Saguache Ranger District
Production: Berlin
Coproduction: STUK, KVS, Vooruit
With the support of: Flanders Audiovisual Fund, City of Antwerp, Flanders Image

65 minutes

The performance is in English with Slovene subtitles.