Some friends struggle to find or make a metaphor for something but they aren’t quite sure what. How the world’s economy positions us? How to test systems of power in order to understand how to change them?
We sense each of the friends was already searching around, reading and questioning. And now we see them using the making of the video (both through imagery and conversations) to interlock and overlap with each others’ ideas and interpretations. To puzzle through together.
They try out existing historical metaphors – a paper tiger, the destruction of the walls of Jericho, the myth of Pandora. They also form new metaphors through visual images; coins spin out of control as someone talks of dynasties falling. Movement is often slamming (one idea banging into the next) or circular (repetition, but also moving on and escape).
In the video’s final scene, they question if their joint task is possible. This is answered by the bounce of a breeze block that appears solid. But we know it is lightweight.