Slave Unit

‘Slave unit’ is a notion which indicates the status of network equipment. In photography it denotes the power of flash installations; a distinction is always made between dominant and subjected. In the video by Cel Crabeels, the idea is applied to a setting with two dancers, a director, the camera, video equipment, the stage and the audience. The work constitutes a cross-over between a dance performance, a photoscope and a video installation. A man and a woman photograph each other in turn. Precisely when the camera’s ‘slave unit’ flashes, the photographer/ hunter turns into a model/ slave and vice versa. Simultaneously the image literally turns around as well, building on the principle of reversibility.