PAINTING THE CLOUDS WITH SUNSHINE, 2008
Duration: 10:50 min. Video

The video explores the phenomenon of balloon fetishism: in various scenes set in a nostalgic hotel interior in Berlin, a young man has intimate contact with colourful balloons. The subject’s ambiguous touching and embracing of the balloons can be interpreted as childish play or a sexualized act.

The close atmosphere in the room and the subject's repetitive handling of the balloons create a dreamlike situation, a closed and private universe where fantasies and ideas represent escapes to an imaginary world where loneliness and longing no longer exist.

The scenes are accompanied by various soundtracks and pieces of music from the 1920s and 1930s, including the tune 'Painting the Clouds with Sunshine' performed by Jack Hylton, the well-known English crooner. The lyrics were originally written for the 1929 musical 'Gold Diggers of Broadway', a film centred on the idea that you need to believe that everything is going to be fine if you just keep painting the clouds with sunshine'. 

The sentimental, evocative music adds emotion and a certain sweetness to the suggestive balloon game, turning the seemingly meaningless and absurd act into a passionate love story.

Excerpt from the video Painting the Clouds with Sunshine, 2008