They whisper and shout. Standing in mud to the knees. In suit, shirt and tie. With clubs in their hands, they strike in all directions in a battle where the enemy is difficult to define. This is how five struggling people meet the viewer on five monumental monitors. Placed in a half-circle, the film frames the viewer, who gets a physical feeling of being involved in the battle as a sixth combatant and thus a target for the punches.

With the film, Tovesdatter Skou draws on several sources of inspiration, including the Scottish economist Adam Smith and his ideas of own interest and self-love, which he describes in his main work Wealth of Nations (1776): “All our actions stem from self interest and the world turns because of financial gain”. Tovesdatter Skou is also inspired by Francisco Goya’s painting Fight with Cudgels (1820-23), which is presented in a light box near the video work. The motif shows a landscape with two men fighting against each other with clubs and can be interpreted as a critical analogy to the basic conditions of capitalism. In her film, Tovesdatter Skou has brought the scenario to life and turned up the aggression of the image language, which is more ongoing, destructive and brutal. In the videowork, nature has even gained a greater power. For all while the five people are focused on their fight, they sink into the mud they stand in. Unnoticed, they are eaten by nature. Here, Tovesdatter Skou seems to connect several of contemporary crises and depicts how capitalism and the planetary crisis are unrivaled.

[Dansk]

De stønner og råber. Står i mudder til knæene. I jakkesæt, skjorte og slips. Med køller i hænderne slår de i alle retninger i en kamp, hvor fjenden er vanskelig at definere. Sådan møder fem kæmpende personer beskueren på fem monumentale skærme. Placeret i en halvcirkel indrammer filmen beskueren, der får en kropslig fornemmelse af at være involveret i kampen som en sjette kombattant og dermed et mål for køllernes slag.

Med filmen trækker Tovesdatter Skou på flere inspirationskilder blandt andet den skotske økonom Adam Smith og hans ideer om selvopholdelsesdrift, som han beskriver i sit hovedværk Wealth of Nations (1776): “All our actions stem from self interest and the world turns because of financial gain”. Tovesdatter Skou er ligeledes inspireret af Francisco Goyas maleri Fight with Cudgels (1820-23), der præsenteres i en lysboks nær videoværket. Motivet viser et landskab med to mænd, der kæmper imod hinanden med køller og kan tolkes som en kritisk analogi på kapitalismens grundvilkår. I sin film har Tovesdatter Skou vakt scenariet til live og skruet op for billedsprogets aggressivitet, der er mere pågående, destruktivt og brutalt. Naturen har i videoværket tilmed fået en større magt. For alt imens de fem personer er fokuseret på deres kamp, synker de ned i det mudder, de står i. Ubemærket bliver de ædt af naturen. Her synes Tovesdatter Skou at skabe forbindelse mellem flere af samtidens kriser og skildrer, hvorledes kapitalismen og den planetariske krise hænger urokkeligt sammen.