Transit

Based on routine activity at a boat lift (schiffshebwerk) in East Germany near the Polish border, Transit examines the perceptual attributes of this very large structure. In it, a pair of video shots show boats moving into the lift, securing to the edges, and then slowly lifting or dropping from view. While the actions shown revolve mostly about waiting, the ordinary and placid tone of activity belies an impressive engineering feat: every transfer moves water and boats weighing hundreds of tons up or down a height of 43 meters. Its slow life is something like an ordinary miracle that reoccurs several dozen times a day.

Quicktime Video excerpt - 320x240 (5.1mb)

Video still from Transit (2004)