Costantino Ciervo - Prisoner of Arts, 1997- Förderkoje Art Cologne

Gefangener der Kunst, 1997.
(Prisoner of Art).
9 T.V. screens, 2 photos, Vivisection an original VHS video from Costantino Ciervo,
a video copy of Leni Riefenstahls The Triumphe of the Will.- 100x330x50 cm.

In 1997 in the promotional section of the Art Cologne, Ciervo exhibited his provocative video instalation Gefangener der Kunst 8.11.97. This piece of work dealt ostensibly with seminal moments from recent german history - from the Nazi time to the terrorism carried out by the RAF group in the 70s, and the subsequent chain of events that eventually lead to the German Autum in 1977. The main theme of the work being the failure of the system to come to terms with its past, in regards to its collective history, and the individual life story of every person. In the dangerous schism between language and personality, in Ciervos opinion, lie the causes of repression. To illustrate this idea, random phrases taken automatically from a dictionary are shown on six tv monitors and are read out loud as they appear by a monotone female voice. Three more monitors attached to the middle part of the piece show the nazi propoganda film The Triumph of the Will, by Leni Riefenstahl. Ciervo does not simply focus on the similarities that reside behind the motives for both left and right wing acts of terrorism, but rather with the idea in general of the problem of taking( sole )responsibilty for our actions. Every person carries a moral responsibilty in regards to history, as well as arguments with the past. The video instalation Gefangener der Kunst 8.11.97 is not least a self-critical questioning of the artist himself, who, with the help of digital editing , super-imposed his own image onto original photos documenting the kidnapping of Dr Hans-Martin Schleyer, the president of the West German Federation of Industries on the 5th of september 1977 in Cologne. Paradoxically, Ciervo has inserted his own image on the photo of the actual place where the kidnapping occurred, as a dead or sleeping victim. He has then put his own portrait over the image of Schleyer being held after the kidnapping. The notorius original photo taken on the 6th of september 1977 that was proof that Schleyer was still alive, as they intended to use him in an exchange deal for the release of the RAF terrorists Baader,
Ensslin and Raspe who were imprisoned in Stammheim. The ambiverlance of the aggressor/victim role in the case of Schleyer, who was ex SS and a reactionary industrial president, was obvious after he became a victim of the terrorists when they eventually executed him on his 43rd day of captivity, shooting him three times in the head. Against the back ground of the relationship between the state and the individual, Ciervo, at the same time questions his own role as a free artist in regards to the idea of ambivalance. The limits of creative freedom are dictated by the rules of market.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Costantino
• Ciervo
• Videoarte
• videokunst
• Förderkoje
• Art
• Cologne
• 1997
• Hanns
• Martin
• Schleyer
• RAF
• Verdrängung
• Terrorismus