You Should Never Forget the Jungle/St. Vitas Dance

1975, 20 min, color, sound
1975, 11:09 min, color, sound
 
1975, 8:50 min, color, sound
 

These two tapes were produced at the Oppenheim Studio in Cologne, Germany. Both incorporate the emblematic objects that are Palestine's performance signatures: scarves, cognac, knives and teddy bears. In You Should Never Forget the Jungle, Palestine is seen in an enclosed room, wearing a scarf and holding a glass of cognac. He begins to chant and keen, hurtling violently against the walls as if trying desperately to break out. Shielding his eyes from the gaze of the camera, he eventually slides out of the camera frame. In St. Vitas Dance, Palestine holds the camera close to his body. Sitting before a ritualistic display of teddy bears, dolls and scarves, with only his shadow visible, he begins an otherworldly chant that seems to seize his entire body. The visceral point of view of the moving camera becomes a visual extension of his keening. In an evocation of symbolic gesture and ritual, the images form an abstraction of pure movement.