Das Softiband

1980, 19:11 min, color, sound

In Das Softiband, vom Bruch builds an ironic self-portrait within the framework of the representations of advertising and war. A brief fragment of a German TV commercial for Softi facial tissues, featuring animated clouds and a childlike melody, is repeated again and again to maddening yet mesmerizing effect. Reversing the standard format of television, where commercials interrupt the narrative flow, vom Bruch punctures this banal, repetitive flow of advertising by alternately inserting archival war footage (a Legion Condor pilot) and images of himself primping coyly for the camera. Vom Bruch locates his own identity wihtin the historical contexts of mass media advertising and war.

Color Images/Video: Softis Commercial, Legion Condor Pilot - Spain, 1936. Self Portrait: Klaus vom Bruch.