Jordan Wolfson, 'Con Leche' screenshot, courtesy Johann König Gallery, Berlin
«Mass is all that does not value himself - good or for evil - by special reasons, but feels" like the whole world, "and yet did not distress, and indeed feels at ease in recognizing identical to more»
(Jose Ortega y Gasset, The Revolt of the Masses)
Jordan Wolfson, american artist who lives between New York and Berlin, presents for his second solo show at Johann König Gallery in Berlin a video-animation entitled 'Con Leche'. The film, which lasts about 15 minutes, consists of images with an audio record of a dialogue between the artist and an actress who reads a text written by Wolfson: excerpts of stories, events, news and personal memories of mass society, of capitalism abounds.
The video, in loop mood, is projected on the wall in the large room in front of the entrance of the gallery space. It shows a hybrid image, which consists of a documentary of the desolate streets of Detroit, which overlaps the outline drawn and digital animation of a bottle of 'Diet-Coke' with small legs and feet, unexpectedly filled to the brim with milk and not as expected, the soft drink Coca-Cola. The cartoon plays the strategy of advertisement. In the video, the 'Diet-Coke' with milk goes through the streets of Detroit, joining other bottles like her. All together they form a small indistinct multitude armed. The bottles move together and indifferent, identical in form and movement, on the background photograph of the real landscape of the city.
The frame of the image, for the duration of the film, is altered through a series of special effects, produced by the projection. The picture slides from a perspective to different directions to adjust, yields on one hand, oscillates, is upturned.
The small army of bottles of milk are marching together without a specific direction. They do not know what his goal, if there is one, or if thay have a particular goal. The 'Diet-Coke' milk, which recall the traditional bottles of milk, show the ambiguity of a figure at once reassuring and disturbing. At they same time thay are a status symbol of mass society, but indeed they are the sign of this contemporary decadence.
In the background you hear the female voice of an actress playing a text consisting of parts that describe the mass society. The story recalls a stream of consciousness, woven cover story, interviews, diaries and personal confessions. Wolfson is pursuing a multi-media narrative that recalls the passage of information through the Web, with images of fashion models on the covers of cocaine-gossip magazine, the sense of insecurity and inadequacy that accompanies the artist against his life, and especially his role and responsibility in society, even more so, today, where violence is rampant and fear; to explain how deep mass society controls our behavior, there is the interview of a young homosexual who’s constricted to hide is sexual tendency because of the influence of his parents. They are so involved in the life of the boy up to upheaval in the deep, in the most intimate sphere of the emotions and feelings, as told by the guy who out of fear of combat, his family was resigned to marry a woman.
The actress is periodically interrupted by the voice of the artist, who explains how she has low tone tune and modulate the voice, to read this story. In this way, Wolfson is involved in the reproduction of his own text, exercising a form of control over the voice of women in the same way in which images of the animated movie incite the viewer in his subconscious mind to question the role of the individual in mass society, reduced almost to an hypnosis state.
The film splits within his own reproduction, made by two parts: a speech and imagies. These two elements are decomposed: the visual image splits in a film documentary, the streets of Detroit, and a digital animation cartoon. The designs, similar to an advertisement in reverse - the subliminal message here is not trying to incite anything, but confuses the viewer - could recall some pictures of the Disney cartoons.
Wolfson, who manipulates contemporary elements that belong to the collective imagination, increases the complexity of the fruition of the work. Using a medium that is similar to that advertising leads the viewer's attention is driven to raise the level of learning and understanding.
In particular, it could remind the story of 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice' in the movie 'Fantasia' (1940), in which Mickey Mouse was in inappropriately dominate and control an army of bewitched and bad brooms.
But going deeper, the film could remind another oldest tale, known as 'The Piper of Hamelin' or 'The Pied Piper'. The legend, as told by Grimm brothers, is taken from an accident happened truely. The story tells of an invasion of rats at Hamelin, in Lower Saxony, at the end of 1200. One day a stranger came to the town and promises to de-tick. The mayor agrees, promising an adequate payment. As soon as the Pied Piper began playing the magic flute, the rats are enchanted by his music and bring to follow him, leaving lead up to the waters of the river Weser, where thay drown.
The inhabitants of the city, now free from rats, ungrateful, decide not to pay the Pied Piper. So, for revenge, the Pied Piper resumed playing while the adults are in the church, attracting behind all the children of the city. 130 children follow him spellbound in open countryside, where the Pied locked them up in a cave. At this point there are different versions. In the most, no child does not survive, or even if only one saves, that lame, failed to keep speed as his companions. Then there is the latest final introducing a happy ending, in which a child of Hamelin, escaped abduction by the Pied Piper, and he manages to free their comrades.
In particular, it could remind the story of 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice' in the movie 'Fantasia' (1940), in which Mickey Mouse was in inappropriately dominate and control an army of bewitched and bad brooms.
But going deeper, the film could remind another oldest tale, known as 'The Piper of Hamelin' or 'The Pied Piper'. The legend, as told by Grimm brothers, is taken from an accident happened truely. The story tells of an invasion of rats at Hamelin, in Lower Saxony, at the end of 1200. One day a stranger came to the town and promises to de-tick. The mayor agrees, promising an adequate payment. As soon as the Pied Piper began playing the magic flute, the rats are enchanted by his music and bring to follow him, leaving lead up to the waters of the river Weser, where thay drown.
The inhabitants of the city, now free from rats, ungrateful, decide not to pay the Pied Piper. So, for revenge, the Pied Piper resumed playing while the adults are in the church, attracting behind all the children of the city. 130 children follow him spellbound in open countryside, where the Pied locked them up in a cave. At this point there are different versions. In the most, no child does not survive, or even if only one saves, that lame, failed to keep speed as his companions. Then there is the latest final introducing a happy ending, in which a child of Hamelin, escaped abduction by the Pied Piper, and he manages to free their comrades.
Jordan Wolfson 'Con Leche'
Johann König Gallery
Dessauer Straße 6-7
10963 Berlin
T: +49.30.2610 308-0
F: +49.30.2610 308-11
Email: info@johannkoenig.de
Website: www.johannkoenig.de
Since November 24th, 2009 until January 9th, 2010
The gallery will be closed from 21 December 2009 to January 3, 2010
_________________________________________________________________________________
Nessun commento:
Posta un commento