The work “Unexpected Rules” by Frederic Moser and Philippe Schwinger exploits a popular theme. Its script is based on an historical event which, similarly to what happens in the entertainment industry, takes advantage of ingredients such as sex, power and money. The Clinton-Lewinsky affair constitutes the point of departure of their dramatic staging, which, however, does not conform to the usual principles of a cinematographic storyline. In “Unexpected Rules” the web of intrigues woven around the head of state of a superpower is displayed from unusual perspectives and shown by means of surprising facets. Details, such as the blue, semenstained dress give way to the interplay of various power sources and mechanisms. Political intrigue constitutes the point of departure for investigating the complexity of our subconscious and of our perception.

The scenic representation is fully focused on the subtle performance of the actors. Within a formal stage setting they perform in line with international, media-edited, publicly known facts. As in a role-play they interpret determined characters - the President, his opponent, the public prosecutor, the intern, etc.- presenting the affair and its consequences as a case story: "Look: here's the catch. Those who cannot learn from history a condemned to repeat it." And straightaway, the President is caught in the trap they set for him. The representation, however, soon departs from the familiar plot. What comes to light is a multifaceted structure resembling a surrealistic dream, wherein new episodes spring forth continuously. The characters come into view suddenly and in the most unusual situations. They have their own dynamics and follow their internal logic. ("Nothing happened. I swear. It's pure nonsense, I'm the President"). And they behave themselves in an unconventional, unexpected manner. They abduct the viewer to a colorful world, in which logic and linearity no longer exist.

Serving as background for the script, in addition to the President's affair, was the theory of "para-consistent logic", developed by the Brazilian logician Newton da Costa. Mr. da Costa busies himself with formal systems capable of assimilating contradictions. Not without reason does this theory stem from Brazil, explains the anthropologist Roberto da Matta: "Among us these sharp contrasts between interiority and exteriority, true and false, man and woman do not exist. The Brazilians, on the contrary, have the ability of dealing with seemingly incompatible aspects and of integrating them".

Through the translation of a trivial situation into a para-consistent terminology, new types of interpretation for intersubjective relations spring into existence. As a result, the customary connections between cause and consequence lose their matter-of-factness. An individual is allowed to make a statement and to retract it forthwith. ("No, that was not my voice, it was not me"). Both the sincere admission and the urge for dissimulation are given the same weight: "I see no problem if you sincerely deny your relationship with the young woman. I mean, if we constantly repeat a lie, it will become true", the public prosecutor advises the President with a virtually disarming frankness. The integration of the possible and the impossible, of reality and absurdity, condenses itself in the closing episode to an almost familial scene, in which the public prosecutor, the first family, the intern, the diplomat and the secretary are seated on a sofa facing the camera.

The work of Moser and Schwinger promotes integration wholly in line with the para-consistent theory of contrary forms and contents. It is mod, political and psychological. It constitutes a political Punch-and-Judy show in the truest sense of the word and exhibits political intrigue as the psychodramatic role-play of a performance group. "Unexpected Rules" presents the mechanisms of power and of the media, couples them to psychological and carnivalesque elements and thickens them into a complex plot, in which the acceptance of absurdity as a part of reality, becomes manifest.

"Unexpected Rules" is, subsequent to "Affection riposte" (2001), "Internment Area" (2002) and "Capitulation Project" (2003) a further video installation by the Swiss Artists, in which the original film backstage becomes integrated. In this manner, the viewers find themselves in the center of the events, with the filmsetting becoming their stage. In the case of "Unexpected Rules", "The Lightbox", a wooden construction with 1000 colored light bulbs, displaying both show elements and a stage setting of the sixties, makes this possible.
"It is our intention to transmit the impression of a type of art music hall that conveys a new type of reasoning. On a subject that is as old as the world itself, we wish anticipate a piece of the future." (Frederic Moser and Philippe Schwinger, 2004).

Ulrike Mantel