Harun Farocki

Images from the maximum security prison in Corcoran, California. The surveillance camera shows a pie shaped section of a cement-covered courtyard in which the prisoners can spend half an hour a day in shorts, usually shirtless. One prisoner grabs another whereupon those who are not involved lie flat on the ground, arms over their heads. They know what is coming: the guard will call a warning and then fire a rubber bullet. If the prisoners don’t stop the fight the guard will shoot. The images are mute, the powder smoke from the shot stretches through the picture. The camera and the weapon are right next to each other. The fields of vision and of aim conflate ... The prisoners are almost naked (they constantly work out) and have nothing more than their clan-affiliation. (Harun Farocki)