A R C H I V E1 9 8 7  
6th
  Gert De Graaff
Twee
  Netherlands 1986
Videotape, 52:00, colour
A father says to his double-sighted son, "Son, I do believe you're double-sighted, can you see two instead of one?" "Oh no, father," answers the son, "if I was, I should see four moons in the sky instead of two." This apposite quotation from Gert de Graaff's production 'Twee' neatly illustrates the problem of perception. 'Twee' demonstrates that perception is based upon acquired knowledge, and that the world and reality as we experience it do not tally, because our perceptions are based on our physical senses. Those senses, however, are far from being able to register everything. From quantum mechanics we take the proposition that all that we observe exists because we can observe it. The question that inevitably follows is whether sowithhing exists if we cannot perceive it. In 'The Doors of Perception', Aldous Huxley, influenced by the visionary poet and painter William Blake, wrote extensively about forms of perception and how to go beyond them. But Huxley got his 'doors' open by means of 'mind-expanding' chemicals. De Graaff opens a good many doors by means of straight-forward video techniques using simple optical illusions to illustrate his points plus a clear, logical exegesis.

Erik Quint

Scenario, camera, editing: Gert de Graaff, Light: Richard Vierbergen, Sound: Alex Booy, Music: René de Graaff, Sets: Frank Lemmens, Production: Netherlands Film and Television Academy, With: Gert de Graaff