In the uncut 17-minute version, the film shows events in front of the McDonald’s in the Hadaba section of Sharm El-Sheikh on the Sinai peninsula. The film was made two days before the bomb attacks in July 2005.

The managers of the American McDonald’s chain developed a sales strategy of transparency in the mode of production and in hygiene, as well as of the economically efficient (because it increases sales) self-service as the trademark of their company. In this regard, their branch in Hadaba – in an inconspicuous two-story building with closed shutters – can almost not be identified as a McDonald’s.The fast food restaurant is hidden, earning its profits solely with home delivery, i.e. the opposite of self-service. The only identifier of American gastronomy is the McDonald’s logo on the trash cans, which are visited by roaming animals, and on the advertising spaces on the delivery boxes attached to the company’s Vespas. An employee leaves the house several times and then comes back. Another employee wearing a McDonald’s uniform leisurely prepares his departure, obviously to deliver a freshly prepared order. The Vespa is ready to go after several start attempts. Then he polishes his helmet and cleans his vehicle. Finally, he drives away.

We notice that the paths of the two employees cross several times without them making eye contact. Animals continuously run to and fro in front of the building. Taxis, a tourist bus and other cars cross the screen. Various pedestrians, some of them on the way to the mosque on the other side of the street, pass by. A call to pray from the mosque (which is beyond our view) can be heard.

Within the same named installation the 16 mm film 19991 HOME DELIVERY is shown. Independent of this and acoustically separate, the audio track “Mix” can be heard via a remote headset for somewhat over 15 minutes. For 14 minutes, actress Megan Gay reads aloud various informational texts and advertisements from tourist brochures about Sharm El-Sheik. In the final minute, a song from the Egyptian mizmar baladi ensemble can be heard. This recording was made during a 1977 concert by the ensemble in the Museum for Ethnology in Berlin. The song was taken from the “Berlin Phonogram Archive, 1900-2000”.

Film projector (projection area = 246 x 330 cm), rewinding device, 2 speakers embedded in the projection wall. 16 mm film, 16’23, color, mono. 1 tower made of 3 fieldstones, size variable, up to 40 x 15 x 15 cm. 1 remote headset, 1 CD player, 1 audio CD, 15’10, stereo, with the voice of Megan Gay and a song by the Egyptian mizmar baladi ensemble.

Photographs: 1 color photograph, 18 x 24 cm (framed, maple, 30 x 39 cm). 1 tower made of 3 limestones, size variable, up to 15 x 15 x 15 cm. 3 color photographs, of which two are 18 x 24 cm (framed, maple, 30 x 39 cm) and one is 24 x 18 cm (39 x 30 cm).

1 tower made of 3 red sandstones, size variable, up to 40 x 15 x 15 cm.

2005 presented from conItemporary at inn.to, Schönhauser Allee 167c, ClubTransmediale, room for events.

In co-operation with Holger Friese.