Cataracts

2007
Vídeo y sonido
7’35 min. loop
Proyección en la pared
Dimensiones variables

Cataract \Cat»a*ract\, noun. [Latin expression cataracta, catarracles, waterfall, Greek expression from to break down; in the passive, to fall or rush down (of tumors) to burst; kata` down to break. A cataract is a large waterfall or place where the flow of a river changes dramatically. The term comes from the Greek word kataraktes, whose meaning «to dash down» or «downrush» describes rapidly running water, and the Latin cataracta, whose meaning describes «a waterfall», «a floodgate», or «a portcullis». As rapidly running water turns white, the term was later used metaphorically to describe the similar appearance of mature ocular opacities.

The video shows real images of recent catastrophes found in Internet. All the images are blurred, forcing the viewer to “have cataracts”. Simultaneously there are voices over of blind people giving their own definitions of words related with catastrophes and blindness: blood, dead body, war, darkness, …The title of the video is a metaphor of the two meanings of the words cataract (synonymous of waterfall), between crying and the water falling.