2013
screen and declaration, 3 minutes

materials: video, wood, paper, glass
director: Annick Vroom
camera : M. Claire Pijman
mixing: Alex Booy
translation and voice: Michael Blass

Our identity is part of a ‘construction’: a person’s position and associated status depends on the recognition of this position. In Skeleton/Self-portrait 23 I declared myself to be holy in a notarial act.

Central to this declaration of sanctity is the definition of that which is holy: "A person or object whose relation to God is exceptionally good and who is thus inviolable or deserving of exceptionally respectful treatment."

To describe this relationship as ‘exceptionally good’, one must first know who or what God is. In part because there is no consensus on the matter, I concluded that this state of sanctity can be incontestably established about myself. I have thus made this declaration as the factual truth.

I have declared the date of my birth to be a holiday in honour of my sanctity.
Caspar Berger

Caspar Berger - Skeleton Project: Declaration of Sanctity / Self-portrait 23 (2013)

Declaration of Sanctity / Self-portrait 23 is part of the Skeleton project.