Patrick Topitschnig

8:30 follows an unsuspecting door-to-door salesman, who finds himself stranded in a desert-like suburb as his train returns to the same train station over and over again in what seems to be an infinite loop.

A montage of video material that arose in various cultural institutions, showing the exact same situation: a man (Patrick Topitschnig) in front of the camera, who changes his position in the space, his posture, and his line of vision on command. He seems tired, indifferent, with too little demanded of him. A pleasantly self-deprecating look at invisible work in the culture industry. Those who have no standing serve as stand-ins, but Topitschnig is still standin’.

Through precisely composed filmic tableaux and minimal movements, the work Carusel encapsulates the image of an underground, post-apocalyptic playground, while elsewhere various doomsday scenarios take their course. It portrays the Zeitgeist-phenomenon celebrated by pop culture in graphic novels, computer games and television series in all of its pessimistic bliss.