MARC ELISABETH - COME PLAY DEAD
According to Marc Elisabeth (b.1992, the Netherlands), we should all glorify blunders, applaud mistakes and encourage errors. In ‘Come Play Dead’ he visually explores existential questions concerning one’s purpose in life and our ongoing attempts to adapt to others’ expectations. His moral philosophy summarised: life is inherently ephemeral and by embracing our own futile existence, we can live as meaningful as possible.
Within his realm of family and acquaintances, in the time of his upbringing, it was common to regularly come up with ludicrous games based on one’s vivid imagination. Now as an adult, he feels pressured to kill his inner child – which he refuses.
‘Come Play Dead’ contains the visual documentation of beautiful failures and fruitless actions, and this mischief and exploration of uncharted areas is sprinkled with grim humour and absurdism. Elisabeth makes his camera function as a tool for igniting his child-like character and as such encourages dullness in life that arrives from a certain kind of youthful hedonism.