It has already been established that artists can make a video about themselves without using the standard form of the video diary. And even more important, without getting bogged down in impervious ferreting about. The question “Who am I?” has been asked over the years in many different ways by videomakers. Carlos Nader adds yet a new way to the genre: suspense. He takes this work beyond self-examination by generalizing his question, and by asking it of others. What do identical twins see when they look long and deep into the eyes of their twin? We all carry a stranger within, but not many can bear to try and fathom that stranger. Whoever truly wants to examine their deepest soul must be sure of themselves and take care not to be blinded by what they see. “What is it that I cannot stop being without being me?” asks someone cryptically. You can take away or change quite a number of things about yourself without losing the essential you: your name, your nationality, even your body. They are all exchangeable coincidences. And who is, in fact, Carlos Nader? He allows us a glance behind the scenes, but if he were to divulge the entire mystery, there would be only an empty shell left over. Just as Nader's 'Trovoada' (1995) was an investigation into the nature of rhythm, this video is an investigation into the nature of the individual. Here he uses the same associative, and at the same time rational-philosophical, investigative methods. The questions which cannot be answered by rational thinking alone are made clear in this way. The result is a video that reveals more the more often you see it.
– Lies Holtrop
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Assistant director: SUSAna Jeha, Thanks to: Victor Civita, Waly Salomão, Hermano Vianna, Stepham Bub, Solange Farkas, Henrique Goldman, Marielo Machado, Jasmin Pinho
Carlos Nader ° 1964, São Paulo (Brazil)
Lives and works in São Paulo (Brazil)
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