198 national anthems from the world’s countries arranged in a vertical, symmetrical stack. Played for the duration with bell curve as defined parameter with demarcation line representing point of departure to the - unattainable? The longest – Uraguay’s begins and ends the audio with a nice, loping intro. The shortest anthem from Qatar comes in a mere 36 seconds and is sandwiched directly in the middle with most others as most anthems come in at a minute or less. I was curious to see if at the apex, beyond the expected dissonant sounds on the sides of the curve, there might be almost a pure, white nose. Static. It comes close though. Based on government tests (atomic blasts, plane military test crashes) we are taken through a test – this time with themes closer to the human condition: want, desire, and spiritual transcendence if you will. The parameters are already set though. Could be construed as ultimately fatalistic and pessimistic. That’s possible. A faux set-up complete with anticipating flashes as in the batter’s home run hit or porn’s standard ‘money shot’.

Artist: Michael Paulus

This video forms part of A Light at the End of the Tunnel, an epic video art trilogy about the human condition which includes seminal works by 30 international emerging artists, and was curated by Perpetual Art Machine (www.perpetualartmachine.com).

The show debuted at Scope Basel 2010 (June 15 - 19, Kaserne), while premiering simultaneously on Babelgum.