Why are they moving?

WHY ARE THEY MOVING?Video, 2:57, 2007

One day, sitting on the steps in front of the Fenice Theatre in Venice, I witnessed the followingscene. People were eating at a restaurant opposite the theatre. Something attracted myattention. I observed those people for a while wondering what made me watch them. It wasabout seven in the evening. I gazed at them until I focused on a point: as when zooming with afilm camera and suddenly fixing on a detail. My point was the question: Why are they moving?Those people were very calm and quiet. They hardly moved, the scene was only animated bythe comings and goings of the waiters. If they had not moved at all, it would have been aperfect picture. However, with the video I could paint a picture which emphasised theirstaticity even further. I would not have been surprised if someone had begun spoon‐feedingthem. So I filmed them for about half an hour. The staticity of the scene is emphasised byplaying it in reverse, creating a contrast between the movement of the waiters, and the almostimperceptible change in the movements of the customers.