Penalva, João: The Bell-Ringer (2005)

Penalva created his video "The Bell Ringer" for his 2005 exhibition at Ludwig Museum, Budapest. In the video we hear the monologue of a man in Hungarian recited by the famous Hungarian actor, László Szacsvay.

Penalva questions one specific aspect of film-watching: in our thoughts we relate the sight and the sound, and in our interpretation we use this relation as a given. The montage is generally based on the fact that films never represent real time, and thus, the missing elements, i.e. time, movements, etc., are substituted by the imagination of the viewer, the operation of which follows the logic of real life and the semantics of films known to him. As the viewer cannot precisely identify the landscape at first glance, he or she calls the text to his or her aid.

"The Bell Ringer" attempts to break not only pictorial but also verbal stereotypes. In traditional films, made by the movie industry, the narrative follows well-known, successful schemes. In "The Bell Ringer" a story starts, but is later interrupted so that another story might start to be replaced by yet another one. The viewer gets to know shorter and shorter parts, his or her annoyance naturally derived from the fact that Penalva does not let him or her listen to the whole story. Later the viewer realizes that it is through his or her imagination that the stories may be continued and eventually finished.