Only man dies. The animal perishes. – Martin Heidegger

Emile Zile’s performance is not only a beautiful ending to the evening, but also offers another perspective on the discussion surrounding Tot Zover Jij & Ik. ’0 views. 0 comments. 0 responses’ is Emile Zile’s collection of YouTube videos that are made in the memory of a deceased friend or family member. Emile selected videos that are accompanied by the music of “I’ll be Missing You” by Puff Daddy, a song that is apparently used a lot in these memorials. During the performance Emile first shows a few videos in sequence and then samples the images and music into a mesh.

The similarities between the videos are striking. Even though they were all made independently, the imagery and music is exactly the same: slideshows with photographs from the childhood of the beloved slowly fade into recent pictures, with texts that express how much the person is missed, and the constant sounds of “I’ll be Missing You” in the background. Although everyone has the freedom to creatively express their feelings of grief on YouTube, it turns out that most people prefer working in an existing format.
http://www.mediamatic.net/page/73002/en

Performances:

Mediamatic Death Salon Amsterdam 25 March 2009
Stutter Horse Bazaar Melbourne 14 May 2008
Video Vortex PostCS Amsterdam 19 January 2008