Friday, October 23, 2009

I Can't Believe It's Not Art

The question, whether an object, image or artifact is art or not, cannot be decided either by one single object, image or artifact, let alone by an individual. Art is after all a practice rather than a product, a verb rather than a noun, but more importantly a social agreement, a title thats been decreed and continuously awarded by specific communities, particular institutions, or a group of representatives, placeholders of the world of culture and the industry of art. Nonetheless, theres a common drive in public conversations to raise questions about the legitimacy of certain objects and negotiate them in regard of their status as to what level something is art or not, which I find both, compulsively obsessive and strikingly playful.

I cant believe its not art refers to the popular childhood game with daisies in which we fervently try to decide through a ritual of petal picking whether somebodys feelings are in or against our favor. She loves me, she loves me not cannot be decided by wishful thinking unless it is whimsical to begin with. However, the ritual follows a function: it marks our courting and tries to raise our odds the more so as performed in front of the adored.

I cant believe its not butter is the name of a well-known American brand. To extend the phrase into the field of arts expands the play with daisies into the realm of words. Branding, it shows, is not just a challenging task for companies, but artists as well, see Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Andy Warhol, Naomi Klein, etc.
Formats available: Quicktime (.mov)

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Monday, August 17, 2009

Saturday, July 04, 2009

Atlas goes Superman

by Richard Jochum, video performance, Athens 2009.

Atlas is the Greek God and Titan who led the rebellion against Zeus for which he was condemned to bear the heavens upon his shoulders. The story has it that he became the personification of endurance. The short video picks up on the ancient legend and continues a series of trials, tribulations, and enactments by the Austrian sculptor and media artist Richard Jochum.

Atlas goes Superman takes the theme one step further and melts the American superhero motif Superman with ancient Greek mythology, home of many potent ueberheros and crafty Gods. Where Atlas had to be turned on his head, Superman does it with a simple rotation: pushing the planet while flying midair.

The artist is digging his way through the territory of global mythology and combines European and American culture. Atlas as Superman has been performed in Athens in the ancient Agora in May 2009 and is the sequel to Atlas (2008 ongoing) and Sisyphus on Vacation which was performed 2006 in the Austrian Alps and first shown in 2007.

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov)

Sunday, June 14, 2009

"With Kind Regards From the Late Emperor"

Installation with 30 light boxes as a flip book celebrating the 125th anniversary of the Arlberg railroad tunnel.

Location: Blisadonnatunnel between Langen am Arlberg and Kloesterle / Austria
The installation can only be seen from the train.

Richard Jochum shows a short video with a staged portrait of the old emperor of Austria, Franz Josef. The emperor looks friendly towards the eye of the beholder/camera, while kindly lifting his hat and greeting the viewer with a smile ever so gently. The video lasts for 2 seconds only and has been split up into 30 single digital frames which have been printed on translucent foil and put into 30 light boxes. The installation works like a flip book nicely placed to be seen by the travelers from the window of the passing train.

One could imagine the viewers to start a conversation such as: Wasn't this just the old emperor? And those who have missed the short moment of display answering: Whom? Or: Which one? In the process of time people will have heard from the project and the travelers will be waiting for the friendly greeting fromt he windows of their train.

Franz Josef was co-responsible for one of the biggest tunnel construction projects of the 19th century, the Arlberg railroad tunnel with more than 14 kilometer in length. Hence, it made sense to pick his image for an art project playfully celebrating the anniversary. On a deeper level, the project plays with old Austrian sentiments: as a nation that is still proud of its history, the great Empire, yet knowing, that it's grandness has become part of the past. The brief flare-up of "history", i.e. an image from the past as it is presented by the light box installation makes up exerience a ride on a ghost train in a luna park: aiming to say, history is something that flashes us from the past.
What is the celebration of an anniversary turns hereby into an artistic intervention with a pinch of humor: with kind regards fromt the late emperor.

Concept: Richard Jochum
Emperor Franz Josef: Lucien Samaha

More information: http://arlbergbahn.blogspot.com

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Atlas

Richard Jochum, 2008. Loop. Austrian Alps.

Atlas is the Greek God and Titan who led the rebellion against Zeus for which he was condemned to bear the heavens upon his shoulders. The story has it that he became the personification of endurance. The short video picks up on the ancient legend and continues a series of trials, tribulations, and enactments by the Austrian sculptor and media artist Richard Jochum. The artist is digging his way through the territory of Greek mythology. Atlas has been performed on the summit of the Austrian Alps in August 2008 among other locations. The photograph shown serves as placeholder for the video loop. Atlas is the sequel to "Sisyphus on Vacation" which was performed 2006 and shown in 2007
Formats available: Quicktime (.mov)