Black September (2002/2011)
Synchronized two channel video, 14:30 min
Two monitors, headphones, bench
Stills from the video
(Installation view at West gallery, The Hague NL, Nov 2011)
Press review
The exhibition received the "Prix de Mer", an award for best show in The Hague:
Laudatio
Publication, with a text by Sebastian Cickocki, chief curator museum of modern art, Warsaw
Artist talk, with Lorenzo Benedetti, director of SBMK Vleeshallen, Middleburg
Christoph Draeger — Temporary Wall Of Voodoo
12.11.2011 — 17.12.2011
Reconstructing a crime is one way to get hold of the truth. The court puts all possibilities to the test and when every doubt has been taken away, a case can be closed. Increasingly, our society seems obsessed by the crime and offences, which are frequently shown on TV. In his work, Christoph Draeger reconstructs attacks and disasters in a subjective, rough and at the same time sensitive manner. In doing so, he emphazises the human aspect and the ensuing social impact, and critically examines the role of the media.
For Christoph Draeger, a fascination for the dark side of humanity, the rough part of society and, in addition, the inevitable disasters, form the premise of his work. Draeger reconstructs the news of the world by using everyday visual language. Due to the direct confrontation with images of disasters and violence, he plays with the observer’s emotions. However, Draeger himself is triggered much more by the news coverage of disasters and catastrophes, than by the actual events. In what way is the disaster presented? What images were chosen and why? What part is real and what part is fiction, and how can this sometimes bizarre reality degenerate into a reality TV drama? Draeger has made works about the Bijlmermeer Disaster, the Munich Massacre, 9/11, Lockerbie and the Tsunami. Huge disasters, disasters that were significant, and in a certain way appeal to our imagination. Why are we glued to the television when the images of disasters are broadcasted? And what captivates us when we see images of the reconstruction of a Norwegian mass murderer’s deeds? According to Draeger it is tempting to observe disasters since they are exceptional; they don’t happen every day. And when you are actually watching it, you are sure you don’t form part of it. You are watching something that you hope will never happen to you. Everyone becomes fascinated by this idea. Indirectly, the works of Draeger confront the observer with himself, and maybe with the worst part of this inner self.
Purpose-designed for West, Draeger has made a new installation called ‘Temporary Wall Of Voodoo’, for which the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague has formed the basis, and in which the war criminals Mladic and Karadzic have been reduced to nonentities. By mixing fiction and reality, Draeger provides a confronting and at the same time ironic view on a topical matter. This alienating and confusing installation is completed with video works, such as Feel Lucky Punk??! (2000), Schizo/redux (2004) and Elefante (2011), in which subjects such as terrorism, mass murders, and a killer’s psyche are dealt with extensively.
Christoph Draeger’s (1965, Switzerland) work has been featured in many solo exhibitions, including shows at Kunsthaus Zurich, Centre of Contemporary Art Ujazdowskie Castle and Lokal 30 in Warsaw, Kunstmuseum Solothurn, Switzerland; Orchard Gallery in Derry, UK; Halle für Kunst in Lueneburg in Germany; CCCB Barcelona; as well as in group exhibitions at P.S.1; the Whitney Museum of American Art; MoMA in New York; Paço das Artes São Paulo; MassMoca Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art; and KunstWerke, Berlin; among many other venues. He participated in the KwangJu, Valencia, Havana, Turin and Liverpool Biennials. The Centre Pompidou, the Whitney Museum of American Art, Kunsthaus Zurich and the Centre pour l’image Contemporaine in Geneva are among the public collections that house his work. He lives and works in Vienna and New York.
On the occasion of this exhibition, a work will be published with a text written by Sebastian Cichocki (Chief curator Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw and the Polish pavillion at this year’s Venice Biennial). During the week before the opening of the exhibition, the artist will be available for interviews by appointment.