Max Hattler

Sensual symbolism. Some political videos do not represent a concrete world at all, but rather cluster their affective cues on other layers of the affective structure, for example, the perception of audiovisual forms, the understanding of abstract meanings or the reflection about communicative contexts. A case in point is Amnesty International: Stop the Show (2013), an animated short created by visual artist Max Hattler. The film was part of an international campaign supporting a UN treaty to regulate the arms trade. It starts with black crosshairs on a white background and the sound of releasing a gun. The crosshairs are then replaced by a flurry of kaleidoscopic op-art transformations of political symbols in the colors of flags: the US stars. and stripes, the star and crescent in black and green, the blue and white star of David, the yellow stars on a blue background of the flag of the European Union. Faster and faster, bigger and bigger, louder and louder, these and others. symbols clash in ever-changing centrifugal movements, accompanied by threatening background noise, culture-specific sound bites, cries, shots and explosions. After a climax, the sound suddenly fades out, and a slogan in black and white appears: ‘Stop this cruel show // Support us / to pressure our governments / to regulate the international / arms trade: On layer (1), the video starts with ambivalent affects; the colourfulness, symmetry and formal variation of the visual track can be experienced as pleasant, but the sounds are subtly threatening. When speed and loudness increase, unpleasant feelings of perceptual overstrain arise, until sudden silence and whiteness create a sensual shock. On the meaning layer (3), the political symbols are affectively charged (relative to group memberships); However, the explicit message of the slogan is more salient. Depending on the viewers’ attitude, likely responses will either be feelings of pleased agreement, puzzlement or angry dissent. Reflecting about production contexts (layer 4), many will admire Hattler’s innovative artwork and morally approve of Amnesty International’s initiative. Altogether, the affective response will not be very intense. However, the video still contributed to directing attention to the decade-long campaign which in 2013 finally led to the adoption of the Arms Trade Treaty by the UN. Generally, this example illustrates how sensually symbolist videos ground responses to higher-level meanings and reflections in perceptual affects.