Sylvia Eckermann / Gerald Nestler

Cliffhanger consists of 8 films that accompany a hike in the Ötschergräben. The clips are part of the experimental film musical Alles hat Grenzen NUR DER MONDFISCH NICHT (to be released in 2021). Accompanying the work is the fa ade of a tourist information storefront installed at a dizzying height by Austrian artist collective Steinbrenner/Dempf & Huber presented as a symbol of the conquest of nature by rampant tourism. The Viennese multimedia artists Sylvia Eckermann and Gerald Nestler develop a cinematic course with eight stations that accompany the hikers through the  tschergr ben with performative actions and musical compositions ranging from classical singing to hip hop. The film locations, at the same time waymarks for visitors, convey an unusual experience of nature and technology. Eckermann and Nestler investigate economic, technological, and ecological contexts and their consequences for the relationship between nature and civilization in the eight episodes. The unique natural sites and historical buildings become the starting point for a wide variety of scenic performances in which man and nature interact. In the often enigmatic scenes, Eckermann and Nestler subtly succeed in thematizing the complexity of this relationship and composing it into moving, sometimes mystical images. Contradictions characterize the relationship between man and nature: He is both a beneficiary and a destroyer, believing he can dominate
nature. They are exemplified in the scene where the protagonist falls down a gravel gutter and becomes both the trigger and the victim of nature‘s destruction.

Along the course, the visitor encounters unspoiled nature, but also cultural achievements such as the historic Wienerbruck hydroelectric power plant. This tense relationship is the theme of the artistic stagings. In a highly aesthetic, visual, and musical way, they enable a different perception of nature and at the same time illustrate how endangered it is. The individual clips prove to be cliffhangers in the truest sense of the word, unfolding a solid tension with a pull effect. The Cliffhanger Parcours also illustrates Sylvia Eckermann‘s and Gerald Nestler‘s interest in developing new artistic formats and collaborating with different disciplines and actors. They see this as an essential possibility of resistance against social, economic, and ecological undesirable developments.