Tanja Zgonc

This video features no words, only music and images. Ema Kugler describes the moving images as: “They are like a dark, surrealist dance of everyman with his own death. I have seen all these images. They came from the darkness of my subconsciousness, colonized me and obsessed me.” The video shows images, which together with the accompanying music give an impression of the infinite and the divine and being sucked into an abyss from where there is no return. The images bring us to the edge of our existence and twist us in the darkness of the subconscious and inevitable oblivion. There are no words or speech in the video, only music and images but the storyline is clear nevertheless. The images are silent witnesses to our imprisonment in the world of automatism – bureaucracy and authority – god and ruler who lead us into pointless wars, killing and death. Individuals are helpless prisoners of these forces.

An educationalist - a 'thief of childhood' becomes alarmed over the inappropriateness of old, fairy tale stories for children. The old book like the one about witches and monsters in her hands suddenly springs to life. Out from it escape Sophie the Witch and her companions: Black Claw, Gray Nightmare and the Red Straw Monster, as well as the water-sprite Aquiline, the shy little dwarf Tiny Peat, and the enchantress Lady Spider. They scatter among the town and woods and performed all kinds of mischief. Sophie just can't get her broom to fly, because she became too fat. The monsters, disappointed over the century in which we live, return back into the book, the witch Sophie loses her magic power and becomes 'Aunt Sophie', and Tiny Peat has changed into a black cat.