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 following
scene. People were eating at a restaurant opposite the theatre. Something attracted my
attention. I observed those people for a while wondering what made me watch them. It was
about seven in the evening. I gazed at them until I focused on a point: as when zooming with a
film 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 by
the comings and goings of the waiters. If they had not moved at all, it would have been a
perfect picture. However, with the video I could paint a picture which emphasised their
staticity even further. I would not have been surprised if someone had begun spoon‐feeding
them. So I filmed them for about half an hour. The staticity of the scene is emphasised by
playing it in reverse, creating a contrast between the movement of the waiters, and the almost
imperceptible change in the movements of the customers.