Brazil, 1996
bernardozanotta.com
Nominee GRA Award 2018 Thesis
Vorarephilia
2018, DV, 18min
Green Inferno
2018, HD Video, 30min
Dismantling Consent
2018, Diasec photograph
Bernardo Zanotta is a Brazilian visual artist and filmmaker based in Amsterdam. Working through the language of Cinema and performance, his films and installations address operatic structures and excessive theatricality, whilst often engaging with sci-fi, film history and camp. The work presented by Zanotta at the Graduation Show investigates the true story of Armin Meiwes, a computer-engineer from Wüstefeld, Germany - who in 2001 found a willing-victim to be devoured at the early-internet forum, Cannibal Cafe. By delving into the rhetorical relation between cannibalism and homosexuality, Zanotta's total installation offers an alternative take on the media-spectacle which surrounded the case. Thematically centering Armin Meiwes' narrative under the perspective of the Hitchcockian male hero - to whom the maternal superego blocks access to a "normal" sexual relation. The work weaves a multi-layered collage, engaging with both archival research and performative reenactments. Abridging amongst others, the 1980 flick Cannibal Holocaust; excerpts from Harry Harrison's novel Make Room! Make Room!, and the 1973 sci-fi film Soylent Green.
