Written/Compiled and Reported by Chen Guanxin
Julian Rosefeldt, the German new media artist who has been invited to exhibit at international art institutions such as the Centre Pompidou in Paris and was awarded the 2010 Vattenfall Contemporary Art Prize, is holding his first large-scale solo exhibition in Asia titled “Manufactured Worlds.” Running from now until June 3rd, the exhibition is being held in the DEF area on the basement level of the Taipei Fine Arts Museum (TFAM), showcasing six of his renowned video installation works created between 2001 and 2011—including “Shelter Portraits,” “American Night,” and “Surprised Man: Part Two of the Failure Trilogy”—as well as 19 photographic pieces. The public will have the opportunity to view the works of this internationally acclaimed visual artist.
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American Night: A visual art piece in the style of a Western film that critiques American political strategies. (Image courtesy of Berlin ARNDT and London Max Wigram Gallery)
Julian Rosefeldt excels in visual storytelling, skillfully employing humor and irony in his narratives, paired with boldly exaggerated surrealist scenarios, to depict the contradictions and absurdities of human existence in contemporary society. He transforms narrative feature films into specially designed video installation spaces, creating a unique viewing atmosphere.
Among the works exhibited, “Shelter Portraits” examines the typical stereotypes of the exotic Other in Western Europe from a politically incorrect perspective, prompting viewers to re-examine or reconstruct common perceptions of specific ethnic groups and how society responds to the idea of the “Other.” “American Night” is a faux Western film through which the artist questions the political strategies of American hegemony, using the Western genre to reflect on America’s historical development today. “Surprised Man” is the second part of the artist’s “Failure Trilogy,” in which one actor plays dual roles, portraying the helplessness and entanglement of human nature through bizarre and illogical behavior in the monotony of daily routines.
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Shelter Portraits: Similar to Said’s concept of Orientalism, it explores the Western European stereotypes of the exotic Other. (Image courtesy of Berlin ARNDT and London Max Wigram Gallery)
Julian Rosefeldt studied architecture in Munich and Barcelona and primarily creates original narrative-based video installation works. His works have been invited to numerous international exhibitions and art institutions, including the Kunstmuseum Bonn in Germany, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, P.S.1 in New York, the São Paulo Biennial in Brazil, and the Athens Biennale in Greece. In 2009, he was invited by the Bauhaus University Weimar in Germany to serve as a visiting professor in the Department of Media Art and Media Design. In 2010, he was awarded the Vattenfall Contemporary Art Prize and became a member of the Film and Media Art Department at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste München in Bavaria, Germany.
Taipei Fine Arts Museum: www.tfam.museum.
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