Girardet, Christoph.

*1966 in Langenhagen, D

lives and works in Hannover, D
1988-94 studied at Hochschule für Bildende Künste Braunschweig

 

Exhibtions [Selection]:

2011 „Silberwald“, KunstKulturQuartier, Nürnberg (s)
2010 „CUE: Artists Videos“, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver
2009 „Still“, Galerie für Gegenwarstkunst, Bremen (s)
2008 „The Cinema Effect“, Hirshhorn Museum Washington
2007 „Made in Germany“, Kunstverein/Kestnergesellschaft/Sprengel Museum Hannover

Various presentations at festivals in Cannes, Venedig, Berlin, Toronto, Rotterdam, New York.

Silberwald

 

Date: 2010
Length: 12:00 min.
Format:  4:3 Letterbox, 3 Channel Installation
Specification: Colour, Sound

 

The sun rises from behind the mountains revealing the sublime vastness of the Alpine landscape. A hunter emerges from a rustic lodge set in an idyllic forest clearing. While wandering through the forest he meets a maiden. Their heartfelt embrace takes place among the blossoming trees that serve as a visual metaphor of their flourishing relationship. The rest of the scenes follow similar tropes of cinematographic sentimentalism: rain and lightning parallel the break-ups, while the characters’ angst is echoed in an overcast sky. Much like a visual DJ, Christoph Girardet mixes pieces of found footage appropriated from German melodramas of the 1950s. To reinforce the banality of the melodramatic narrative, the artist parallels various episodes on three different screens. The viewer quickly realizes that apart from insignificant differences of the landscape and the characters' attire, the same story is encoded in all these melodramas. Pointing out the platitudinous nature of this visual bubble-gum of mass cinematography might only be the start of the artist’s agenda. Paradoxically, there is also a source of emotional freedom in the triviality and repetitiveness of the melodramatic poses: if relationships indeed develop along similar lines, then there is no reason to feel anxious about them. We know that the waters will eventually calm down, allowing our protagonists to sail away into a romantic sunset.  

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