Hero (v)

Hero is the first of a series of three simple video sketches offering documentation of individuals in Shanghai, trying to impose a form of order on the urban chaos

The problematics of living in this dense structure are further explored in a series of short video sketches Cotterrell filmed on the streets of Shanghai: traffic conductors, lone policemen and traffic ‘assistants’ are individually documented attempting to impose order on the masses of cars, trucks, buses, bicycles and pedestrians of central Shanghai. These men, reminiscent of Gary Cooper’s Marshal Will Kane, single-handedly attempt to stem the seeping of traffic along gargantuan stretches of 10-lane motorways. Ignored and avoided, their attempts are comi-tragic - like a modern-day Sisyphus, each must do battle with the masses and their machines to earn his daily bread.

Materials:

DVD Video and Sound (3 Works)

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