Guily Landscapes, episode 1 - Hangzhou

The continual availability of news on our laptops, televisions and smartphones makes us perpetual witnesses to complex situations on the other side of the world. We can feel unease every day through the confrontation with presumed poverty and desperation. The news camera is not neutral; intentionally or unintentionally, those who are filmed are framed as victims. Before they know it, the social conscious viewer is dragged into a vortex of guilt and shame. With the large scale video installation Guilty Landscapes Verhoeven brings the reality of uncomfortable news images confrontingly close. He poses the question of whether a personal connection is possible between the viewer and the person being viewed. What if the news were to turn and look at its witnesses; what if the protagonists on the evening news were to look us in the eye?