Ulrike. Das Projekt
Ulrike. Das Projekt continues vom Bruch's preoccupation with the leading figures of the RAF. The work is an encoded consideration of the relationship between artistic and revolutionary activity and raises the question as to the transformation of terrorist potential into artistic expression. >>Can the artist protect himself through his art from a role as an active participant in revolutionary activity?<<, is a question asked by Oskoui and vom Bruch. Thereby, they implicitly raise the reverse question as to the subversive potential of artistic creation. Upon the tripartite screen, filmed performances by the two artists are combined with segments of popular films and film genres. The complex mixture of images engenders an intricate and ambiguous play of references and connotations: we are shown a ritual washing of feet, the splitting of three apples with the bare hands, the consistently repeated dance steps of Fred Astaire, a revolver alongside a construction drawing, and finally the artists walking along a pattern of the Chartres labyrinth. The clearest message might be given by Melina Mercouri, who in the figure of the prostitute Ilya from the film 'Never on Sunday' combines in her behavior a lack of virtue with the strict adherence to principles. In her own biography, the later Greek Minister of Culture united artistic creation, revolutionary resistance and political involvement. (Dorothée Brill)
About the video
About the artists
- 1966 in Giessen-Lahn, GER.
Studied at the California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, USA
- 1952 in Köln, GER.
Studied at the California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, USA, and the Universität zu Köln, GER
