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.

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)

Watch this clip

“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.

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

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.