Matthew Setzer and Adam Thompson; Hand

The video work "Hand" was recorded in the late evening hours of Thursday, 21 December 2023 at 22:41 by Gvoon with Arthur Schmidt at a different location.

The audible sound of the video work "Hand" is based on a soundtrack created by Matthew Setzer and Adam Thompson for the video. Matthew and Adam created their own sounds using hardware synthesisers, live vocals and various effects. They then worked with granular synthesis to process various recordings and achieve a final result. This only happened after they had discussed the video work and sounds. In addition to the breathing sounds of myself that can be heard in the video, which were created during the recording inside the black rubber cell, an experimental video work was also used, which was created on 25 December 2013 at 23:09 in Room 2, the black rubber cell, in the former central detention centre of the Ministry of State Security of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and today's memorial in Berlin-Hohenschönhausen.

Looking at your own hand is a symbol of self-reflection and self-confidence. The hand symbolises all the actions one has performed in life. Remembering a certain period of imprisonment points to the isolation experienced. This isolation was not only physical, but above all psychological. All these feelings return: the loneliness, the self-isolation and the inner conflicts. It is a reminder of a restrictive time.
he hand symbolises identity and the recognition of one's own self in an inner space, it stands for a deep inner truth that is normally hidden.

Matthew Setzer is a Los Angeles based musician. CalArts graduate in Experimental Sound Practices he studied with Morton Subotnik and Ulrich Krieger. Live member of seminal industrial band Skinny Puppy he also performs with ohGr and had 11 years touring experience with LA goth band London After Midnight. Matthew is co-creator of Indradevi; a South East Asian influenced world music project featuring electronics, guitars, synths, Khmer singing, Cambodian rappers, and Indonesian gamelan. Founding member of punk vaudeville opera project Timur and the Dime Museum, Matthew has performed at America's Got Talent, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Operadagen Festival (now the O. Festval) in Rotterdam, and Miami Light Project among others. In partnership with Beth Morrison Projects (BMP) Timur and the Dime Museum premiered the Black Lodge in fall 2022 with Opera Philadelphia. Composed by David Little it was heralded by the New York Times, LA Times, The New Yorker, Thurston Moore, and Philip Glass. Black Lodge was nominated for a Grammy in 2024. Current projects include Anonymous NOR with fellow live Skinny Puppy member Dustin Schultz, and a solo project above_the_red. Both heavily utilize modular synths with overtone throat singing.

There is a lot of information about Matthew Setzer and Adam Thompson on the Internet. It is best to visit Matthew on his Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/matthew.setzer.9 and Adam on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/adam.bomb.thompson.

A very special thank you goes to Stephen Collins for this wonderful contact with these two great artists. You can also find information about him on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/Tastee or directly at: tastee.media

The entire "Innen" project and the resulting video work "Hand" are essentially based on the existence of a black rubber cell, which is set up in its original state in a different location. This cell as a space, or as a created place, has stayed with me ever since my first contact with it at its original location in Berlin-Hohenschönhausen. Perhaps also because when you enter this room, it just presses down on you, on everything. You can't put it into words. At least I can't. In this project, this black padded cell serves as a kind of metaphor for all the other rooms in this world that have been turned into places, where people are brought into an exceptional situation by unscrupulous others, where those affected are then completely alone with themselves. Something is created in the minds of those affected when a certain kind of empathy is present - in other words, the ability and willingness to understand and feel the feelings, thoughts and emotions of other people. However, everyone thinks differently,

The Stasi's black rubber cell (detention cell, tranquillisation room) exists in reality far below as a real Room 2 at the lowest point in the basement of the north wing (cell wing) of the former central remand prison (UHA) of the Ministry of State Security (MfS) of the German Demokratic Republic (GDR) and today's memorial in Berlin-Hohenschönhausen..

Everything about the ‘Innen’ project is deliberately not externally determined, neither financially nor intellectually.

Visit Youtube directly for further and other video works createdf  or take a look at all the works created so far for "Innen" here,

The "Innen" project is managed by GMO - The Label.