Robert Cahen
«Tombe (avec les mots)»

«Tombe (avec les mots)» varies the concept of «Tomb». Again the work concerns the video projection of a framed, vertically-oriented image, in effect a painting. But instead of objects, what flows so slowly through the frame are words and expressions in French, letters of the alphabet drifting from the top to bottom of the picture frame, decelerated by the element of water as though laden with extra weight. Here too, like with other video works by Cahen, the work embraces the idea of passage and transience. Only this time the work is enriched by recalling a peculiar level of sensation, namely that of a tomb—already expressed by the title, even though, in French, the word «tombe» stands for «falling» as well as «tomb».