Thursday, March 4, 2010
Friday, February 5, 2010
Twenty Angry Dogs
Twenty Angry Dogs is a video and sound installation presenting 10 select videos with people barking. Each video depicts a single person barking, intentionally angry or anxious. The selection comprises a diversity of people in regard of their gender, age, race, and profession. The installation will be put up as a circle of monitors suspended from the ceiling in order for the viewers to walk into and through. Each video screen is equipped with proper loud speakers. The sound as well as the videos will be put on a loop.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Press release
Bundo Gallery is pleased to present new and recent works in the fields of mixed media, photography, video, object-art and installation by the Austrian sculptor and media artist Richard Jochum. The exhibition will be his first solo show in a Korean gallery, bringing together installations previously unseen. Despite his rather succinct, post-minimalist and post-conceptual approach, Jochum’s work is often emotionally charged and bears a significant sense of humor either in its aesthetic form or chosen subject. Over the past six months Jochum has been working on a new piece - “Twenty Angry Dogs” - for the upcoming exhibition, a video and sound installation with ten people barking like angry dogs from single monitors and loudspeakers put up in a circle for the audience to walk into. Bundo Gallery will show a number of Jochum’s key works and installations as well as a photographic series called “PaperSeries” in a collaboration with the Bong San Center at two different venues with a joint starting date of March 2, 2010.
Richard Jochum has been working as a visiting scholar and artist-in-residence at Columbia University in New York since 2004. He has been exhibiting extensively and internationally with shows, group exhibitions and screenings around the world, such as in Europe, North and South America, Australia, and Africa, as well as frequently showing net-based art online. In Europe he is best known from a traveling exhibition called dis-positiv, for which he chose to display art critics, curators and art historians as living exhibits behind plexi glass instead of regular art work. By physically changing the discourse, the project has challenged the audience to look at some of the less obvious ways in which art is shaped. The project has served as a role model for artists and curators alike and has attracted the interest of numerous art institutions and colleges in Europe and the U.S. while being shown in a number of venues between 2000 and 2003.
Since then Jochum has produced a variety of new media works with a focus on artist books, object art, photography and installation. With a natural inclination to brevity, he has made short videos and digital art become his frequent format, often crossing the limits of one medium and hereby expanding the limits of another. The series “IndexFinger#1-3” for example, also part of the exhibit in Korea, shows three video portraits of the artist re-enacting well-known illustrations and paintings from pop culture and art history. The portraits were individually displayed on LCD panels imitating the style of still photography. "Mama", another short video and sound installation included in the presentation, shows a man crying out for his mother. The video is put on a loop, yet the sound is connected to a motion sensor, thus only audible for visitors as they pass by. The installation captivates by provoking very personal childhood memories; however, hearing an adult man performing the role of a boy makes the performance slightly uncanny; similar to "Halt", in which somebody is actually doing, what we keep warning ourselves of: sitting on a tree and cutting onself off the branch by appying the saw to the wrong side.
Jochum’s works are often embedded in local communities and include a large number of participants such as the land art project “Sisyphus on Vacation” in which he persuaded 20 people to help him carry 350 kg of painted stones uphill in order to put to rest at the top of a mountain. As a sequel he performed another Greek legend, Atlas, in a series of photographs and videos in which he has turned a head stand on a mountain top upside down, thus becoming Atlas, the bearer of the world. Crossing different media has become a trademark for an artist whose proliferate practice comprises a broad spectrum of artistic approaches, including public art projects such as a flip book installation with 30 light boxes inside of a railroad tunnel in the Austrian Alps for the passengers to stare at while riding the train.
Following his own statement, Richard Jochum strives to find “new images for the time we live in. For the conditions and issues we deal with: existentially, politically, physically, and globally”. On those terms, the production of images cannot ever come to an end. In his quest for images that speak to us today he shows a particular interest in engaging with his audience; either by making participation fundamental to the process of its outcome, or in his role as an instigator of discussion and debate. Rather than understanding art to be the sole proprietor of the fabrication of beautiful images, beauty becomes a precondition of life that surrounds us at any given moment. His so-called “PaperSeries” - visually appealing high-quality prints of first wrinkled, then unfolded paper - shows that an exhibition can be a tool to expand our minds by reconciliating our awareness and senses with an everyday-aesthetic which we may not have not been noticing enough yet.
Exhibition at Bundo Art Gallery: March 2 – March 18, 2010
Exhibition at Bong San Center: March 2 – March 14, 2010
More information can be found at:
http://richardjochum.net
http://bundogallery.blogspot.com
http://bundoart.com
Richard Jochum has been working as a visiting scholar and artist-in-residence at Columbia University in New York since 2004. He has been exhibiting extensively and internationally with shows, group exhibitions and screenings around the world, such as in Europe, North and South America, Australia, and Africa, as well as frequently showing net-based art online. In Europe he is best known from a traveling exhibition called dis-positiv, for which he chose to display art critics, curators and art historians as living exhibits behind plexi glass instead of regular art work. By physically changing the discourse, the project has challenged the audience to look at some of the less obvious ways in which art is shaped. The project has served as a role model for artists and curators alike and has attracted the interest of numerous art institutions and colleges in Europe and the U.S. while being shown in a number of venues between 2000 and 2003.
Since then Jochum has produced a variety of new media works with a focus on artist books, object art, photography and installation. With a natural inclination to brevity, he has made short videos and digital art become his frequent format, often crossing the limits of one medium and hereby expanding the limits of another. The series “IndexFinger#1-3” for example, also part of the exhibit in Korea, shows three video portraits of the artist re-enacting well-known illustrations and paintings from pop culture and art history. The portraits were individually displayed on LCD panels imitating the style of still photography. "Mama", another short video and sound installation included in the presentation, shows a man crying out for his mother. The video is put on a loop, yet the sound is connected to a motion sensor, thus only audible for visitors as they pass by. The installation captivates by provoking very personal childhood memories; however, hearing an adult man performing the role of a boy makes the performance slightly uncanny; similar to "Halt", in which somebody is actually doing, what we keep warning ourselves of: sitting on a tree and cutting onself off the branch by appying the saw to the wrong side.
Jochum’s works are often embedded in local communities and include a large number of participants such as the land art project “Sisyphus on Vacation” in which he persuaded 20 people to help him carry 350 kg of painted stones uphill in order to put to rest at the top of a mountain. As a sequel he performed another Greek legend, Atlas, in a series of photographs and videos in which he has turned a head stand on a mountain top upside down, thus becoming Atlas, the bearer of the world. Crossing different media has become a trademark for an artist whose proliferate practice comprises a broad spectrum of artistic approaches, including public art projects such as a flip book installation with 30 light boxes inside of a railroad tunnel in the Austrian Alps for the passengers to stare at while riding the train.
Following his own statement, Richard Jochum strives to find “new images for the time we live in. For the conditions and issues we deal with: existentially, politically, physically, and globally”. On those terms, the production of images cannot ever come to an end. In his quest for images that speak to us today he shows a particular interest in engaging with his audience; either by making participation fundamental to the process of its outcome, or in his role as an instigator of discussion and debate. Rather than understanding art to be the sole proprietor of the fabrication of beautiful images, beauty becomes a precondition of life that surrounds us at any given moment. His so-called “PaperSeries” - visually appealing high-quality prints of first wrinkled, then unfolded paper - shows that an exhibition can be a tool to expand our minds by reconciliating our awareness and senses with an everyday-aesthetic which we may not have not been noticing enough yet.
Exhibition at Bundo Art Gallery: March 2 – March 18, 2010
Exhibition at Bong San Center: March 2 – March 14, 2010
More information can be found at:
http://richardjochum.net
http://bundogallery.blogspot.com
http://bundoart.com
Friday, January 29, 2010
Monday, June 22, 2009
PaperSeries (photographs)
PaperSeries, 2007-2010 Paper, photographs, digital fine art prints.
This series of work is based on a visual investigation: What happens when we unfold paper that we just crumbled? It will inherit visual memories and stretch-marks of what just happened to it, yet never return to its original two-dimensional state unless re-presented as a photograph. “Paper Works” are photographic prints that capture the story of these marks. Playfully going back and forth between the two- and three- dimensional space the series enacts what could be the difference between photography and sculpture, between history and memory.
History of Art (artist book)
Artist Book, 2005, 7 x 10 inches
I selected one chapter from Janson’s History of Art. Depending on which direction the reader starts to browse, a different story of art will be revealed. From the front side one would find Janson’s text but with empty spaces instead of proper names, a discourse without artists. From the rear direction the pages contain just the artists’ names, creators without context.
IndexFinger #1-3 (video triptych)
2007-2008. Video portraits, installation with 3 LCD-Screens. 20 x 44 inches.
Index Finger #1-3 is a photographic video portrait series on the decisive role of a gesture, the index finger, throughout the history of religion, philosophy, and pop-culture. The 30 sec video portraits are looped and constitute a tryptich installation which became part of the group exhibition, "What's Good Must Not Necessarily Be Evil", at Kunstraum Vaduz, Liechtenstein.
The videos on display can be seen at
http://katzenroehrl.blogspot.com/2007/02/indexfinger1.html,
http://katzenroehrl.blogspot.com/2007/02/indexfinger2.html, and http://katzenroehrl.blogspot.com/2007/02/indexfinger3.html
Atlas (video performance)
2008. Video Performance (Video Still). Austrian Alps. Video-Link
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.
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.
Sisyphus on Vacation (land art project, photography, video)
2006. Land art project, photographic documentation. 50 x 70 inches. Video documentary 3 min 39 sec. Movie-Link
Sisyphus On Vacation is the product of a two-week artist-in-residency in the Austrian Alps in which I carried painted gray stones totaling 692 pounds to the top of a mountain. The project imitates the old Greek figure of a blinded Sisyphus in his futile attempt to roll a boulder uphill that would only roll back down just before reaching the summit – again and again. Part of the project was to persuade 20 fellow hikers successfully to help schlepping the stones.
Snow II (video)
2008, Video performance, 2 min 41, DVD. Movie-Link
Snow II shows how the artist is rolling a ball of snow until he gets exhausted. The ball is growing and continues to grow after help arrives. But there is a limit to it; soon the group of helper is bigger than the ball thus making progress impossible.
Halt (video)
2007, Videoperformance and photographic images. 2001-2007. DVD and digital print 18 x 24 inches. Movie-Link
Artist saws himself off the branch he sits on. He falls and lands on the same bough. Photographic image and video performance series. Sounds: birds twittering, sawing noises, and branch cracking.
Mama (sound and video installation)
“Mama” is a short video (TRT 1’ 35’’, looped) by the Austrian media artist Richard Jochum, New York 2008.
Mama is a sound and video installation in which a man cries out for his mother. The video reverberates the visceral relationship between a mother and her son, a relationship that goes beyond the eloquence of verbal language. The video is looped, the sound however is connected to a motion sensor, thus only audible when visitors are walking by.
Mama is a sound and video installation in which a man cries out for his mother. The video reverberates the visceral relationship between a mother and her son, a relationship that goes beyond the eloquence of verbal language. The video is looped, the sound however is connected to a motion sensor, thus only audible when visitors are walking by.
Artist Statement
(1) Although trained as a sculptor I see myself as a media artist. That means that my work is not limited to a single material, it includes all sorts of media. In a recent exhibition for instance I was showing 25 new installations: photography, objects, drawings, and video.
(2) I believe in the power of art. I think art continually has to find new images for the time we live in. For the conditions and issues we deal with: existentially, politically, physically, and globally. Searching such images is what I am aiming for.
(3) Going back and forth between knowing and doing feeds what we ultimately call culture. It is important to me to be involved in art practice from both a theoretical and practical stance. I usually get most inspired by artwork that comes from a balance between aesthetic form and conceptual content.
(4) My artwork is often based on some sort of humor. I like it when serious things come with a wink. It makes it easier to deal with, to digest, and to further construct.
(5) I do believe in an intriguing encounter between art producers and the public. To embrace education is a rewarding way to expand our creativity. Audiences can make us learn better, and see things we would not have known of. I understand both, intelligence and creativity to be profoundly social.
Richard Jochum, New York 2005-2007
(2) I believe in the power of art. I think art continually has to find new images for the time we live in. For the conditions and issues we deal with: existentially, politically, physically, and globally. Searching such images is what I am aiming for.
(3) Going back and forth between knowing and doing feeds what we ultimately call culture. It is important to me to be involved in art practice from both a theoretical and practical stance. I usually get most inspired by artwork that comes from a balance between aesthetic form and conceptual content.
(4) My artwork is often based on some sort of humor. I like it when serious things come with a wink. It makes it easier to deal with, to digest, and to further construct.
(5) I do believe in an intriguing encounter between art producers and the public. To embrace education is a rewarding way to expand our creativity. Audiences can make us learn better, and see things we would not have known of. I understand both, intelligence and creativity to be profoundly social.
Richard Jochum, New York 2005-2007
Artist Biography
Richard Jochum is a Visiting Scholar and Artist in Residence at Columbia University. He works as a media artist since the late 1990s setting up exhibitions all over the world. Being an Austrian citizen Richard received his MA in philosophy from the University of Innsbruck, and his PhD from the University of Vienna dealing with strategies of coping with complexity in contemporary philosophy. He got his MFA in sculpture and media art from the University of Applied Arts in Vienna before he moved first to Berlin and later to New York. Richard’s art practice is accompanied by lectures in the field of contemporary art practice and cultural theory. He has been awarded several grants and prizes. One of his most recent installation - 30 light boxes as a flip book – is exhibited in a railroad tunnel in the Austrian Alps since June 10, 2009. More information can be found at http://richardjochum.net.
Most recent exhibitions:
Flavors of Austria, TAF, Athen (Greece), May 19 - Jun 30, 2009.
With Kind Regards From the Late Emperor, Remise, Bludenz (Austria), Jun 14 - Jul 26, 2009.
Video Awards as a part of Global Warming - Volta Art Fair / Art Basel 2009, Jun 12, 2009.
Brighten Life, Get Ahead, Hana Art Gallery, Seoul (Korea), Jun 24 - 30, 2009.
Dowd Fine Art Gallery, SUNY Cortland (New York), Jul 17 - Sep 26, 2009.
Most recent exhibitions:
Flavors of Austria, TAF, Athen (Greece), May 19 - Jun 30, 2009.
With Kind Regards From the Late Emperor, Remise, Bludenz (Austria), Jun 14 - Jul 26, 2009.
Video Awards as a part of Global Warming - Volta Art Fair / Art Basel 2009, Jun 12, 2009.
Brighten Life, Get Ahead, Hana Art Gallery, Seoul (Korea), Jun 24 - 30, 2009.
Dowd Fine Art Gallery, SUNY Cortland (New York), Jul 17 - Sep 26, 2009.
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