Franz Wassermann
TATENTRÄGER | DIE
EHRE DER KATHARINA
EHRE DER KATHARINA
August 25, 2006 – September 30, 2006
The meaning behind the title of Franz Wassermann’s series ‘Tatenträger’, ‘Action Carriers’, requires for the non-German speaking viewer a little explanation. In German the title is a play on words, using the word ‘Datenträger’, which in English would translate ‘data-carrier’, any medium on and by which data can be recorded, transferred or transmitted, and the German word for deeds, or actions, which is ‘Taten’. Merely by exchanging the letter ‘D’ with the harder more articulate ‘T’, the artist begins to process ideas and observations into his works. Data, passive, becomes action. Mere documented information takes on the dimension of the act.
In using a method involving a variety of adhesive tapes, the artist begins a process of removing information from objects that have some form of recorded data. These objects take on many forms. The removal and subsequent reproduction of the information involves his personal confrontation with the material and manifests itself in various ways. The two-dimensional becomes three-dimensional. Deconstruction becomes reconstruction. Destruction becomes construction.
Grace Kelly, Eminem or the Pope are just a few icons Franz Wassermann uses for his purposes – just as the press and the media do. With reference to Heinrich Böll’s ‘The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum’ Franz Wassermann picks up the theme of power and powerlessness. The protagonist, Katharina Blum, is falsely accused by the sensationseeking press. Finally she is driven to murdering the journalist responsible for ruining her reputation. Those who control truth – its construction as well as its certification – in a society are in a position of power. By deconstructing and reconstructing well-known images Franz Wassermann breaks up the dependence of those icons on the media – just like when Katharina shot the journalist and turned into Action.
‘Mein Körper ist eine Waffe’ (My Body is a Weapon) is one of the aphorism from the series ‘Existenz’. Each one carries a Trademark sign as used in advertisement. As in ‘Tatenträger’ Franz Wassermann references here to the dependence on and the use of image and body.
Franz Wassermann became known in Austria with his project ‘Barbie and Ken are HIV-positiv’. His video ‘I’ has been presented internationally. For ‘Schubhaft’ (Arrest) he occupied the institutional ‘Galerie im Taxispalais’ in Innsbruck and for his ‘Ikonen’ (Icons) he drowns and seals famous art pieces, as of Josef Beuys in water. His newest solo show ‘DOCUMENTA XII’ was shown this year at the Kunstverein Rosenheim.
In using a method involving a variety of adhesive tapes, the artist begins a process of removing information from objects that have some form of recorded data. These objects take on many forms. The removal and subsequent reproduction of the information involves his personal confrontation with the material and manifests itself in various ways. The two-dimensional becomes three-dimensional. Deconstruction becomes reconstruction. Destruction becomes construction.
Grace Kelly, Eminem or the Pope are just a few icons Franz Wassermann uses for his purposes – just as the press and the media do. With reference to Heinrich Böll’s ‘The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum’ Franz Wassermann picks up the theme of power and powerlessness. The protagonist, Katharina Blum, is falsely accused by the sensationseeking press. Finally she is driven to murdering the journalist responsible for ruining her reputation. Those who control truth – its construction as well as its certification – in a society are in a position of power. By deconstructing and reconstructing well-known images Franz Wassermann breaks up the dependence of those icons on the media – just like when Katharina shot the journalist and turned into Action.
‘Mein Körper ist eine Waffe’ (My Body is a Weapon) is one of the aphorism from the series ‘Existenz’. Each one carries a Trademark sign as used in advertisement. As in ‘Tatenträger’ Franz Wassermann references here to the dependence on and the use of image and body.
Franz Wassermann became known in Austria with his project ‘Barbie and Ken are HIV-positiv’. His video ‘I’ has been presented internationally. For ‘Schubhaft’ (Arrest) he occupied the institutional ‘Galerie im Taxispalais’ in Innsbruck and for his ‘Ikonen’ (Icons) he drowns and seals famous art pieces, as of Josef Beuys in water. His newest solo show ‘DOCUMENTA XII’ was shown this year at the Kunstverein Rosenheim.
