In this piece by the Andalusian artist María Cañas, two of the most characteristic elements of her work, televisions and animals, are combined in one of her trademark surrealist video collages. A bizarre narrative takes shape about the power of the media to exterminate humans and implant an “animal telecracy”.

Cañas has collected from her ample film archive a number of images which she combines using her particular technique of scratch video. On screen is a preapocalyptic space, populated by dozens of televisions radiating cathodic rays and hypnotising and turning into spectres all that comes in front of them: dogs, bats…

This short piece comprises three acts (The animal with the low look, 45”; Nursery TV, 45”; and Land of 1,000 TVs, 30”) and is reminiscent of 1950s pulp fiction films. In these, a bizarre televised invasion is always threatening planet earth. The difference in this case is that it looks as if it is the television sets themselves that will annihilate the human species.

Will bats be spared? Will dogs end up hypnotised? Televisions coming out of coffins? In order to understand all of these questions, it is essential that this interesting work be watched.