“Credit” comes from the Latin word “credere”, which means: to believe, to entrust, to confide.
CREDIT #1-7 – chain films // working for others //
was a participatory video project at the intersection of art and economics, initiated by Johannes Burr. Every now and then, from 2006 – 2012, the artist changed sides and slipped into the role of a banker: turning up in a new place each time. As a mobile credit bank, he traveled in different countries seeking interested people who might be willing, as a borrower, to accept a suitcase from him labelled “CREDIT”. The suitcase’s contents included a video camera, video cassettes, and contract forms.
Each borrower signed a contract certifying their commitment: within seven days, they would hand the suitcase over to another person of their choice, with whom they would then shoot a film. Four specified tasks had to be completed. In this way, the suitcase traveled the world and, on each trip, passed through the hands of seven different people. Every time the suitcase went out, the spontaneous interaction and collaboration of the participants resulted in the production of a unique Chain Film.
After passing through the hands of seven participants over a period of more or less seven weeks, the suitcase came back to the bank: loaded with interest in the form of video footage. However, the added value that had been generated was not just in the video recordings that were subsequently edited to produce the seven Chain Films, but also in the social interactions that would not otherwise have taken place.
In most cases, the suitcase’s journey ended with a meal shared together by the participants. And the Chain Film was shown as a video installation in an exhibition at the site of its creation.
From the outset of the project, the plan was to undertake a total of seven credit circulations and thus produce seven Chain Films. These were created between 2006 and 2012 by invitation and in collaboration with: KUNSTHALLE BASEL (Basel, Switzerland), ARTTRANSPONDER (Berlin, Germany), KÜNSTLERDORF SCHÖPPINGEN (Schöppingen, Germany), MUSEU DA UFPA, (Belém do Pará, Brazil), Zentrum für Gegenwartskunst KRONIKA (Bytom, Poland) and NEXTEX (St. Gallen, Switzerland).
This website documents the Credit Project: how it came about, what it was about, and what became of it…
