Gregor PASSENS

Wake up Experimental video | dv | color | 5'18'' | Germany / Argentina | 2005 © Gregor Passens In the crater of a volcano in Catamarca, Argentina, a firework is set off at dawn, at 4000 metres altitude. Born in 1974, Gregor Passens lives and works in Munich and Buenos Aires, Argentina. He studied at the Munich Academy of Arts, where he was part of Professor Nikolaus Gerhart's class; he graduated in 2002. Selection of Scholarships: 2002/03 Annual scholarship from DAAD, Buenos Aires, Argentina 2005 International Villa of Artists, Concordia, Bamberg 2006 American scholarship of Bavaria. Selected Exhibitions: 2003 "Verboden op het Werk te komen" W 139 in Brakke Grond, Amsterdam; II Biennial of Tirana, Albania 2004 STUK, Louvain, Belgium; "Xtreme Houses" Lothringer 13, Munich + Halle 14 Federkiel foundation, Leipzig; "Muslim Mulligi Prize", the Kosovo Art Gallery, Pristina 2005 "A Parasite Showing" k-forum, Vienna, and ARGE Gallery, Bozen; "Buenos dias Santiago" - an exhibition as expedition, Museum of Contemporary Art, Santiago of Chili 2006 VIDEOTHEKA, Vienna Kunsthalle; "Triumph", El Basilico, Buenos Aires; Open Space, Art Cologne, Cologne Other text Wake up For his video „Wake Up“ (2005) the German artist Gregor Passens simulated a volcanic eruption in the highlands of Argentina right at the time of the morning dawn. Birds are flying and small flames illuminate the sky. This eruption stays rather moderate and besides some birds, put up by the noise, no one is really frightened by it. Actually this eruption is not even volcanic but only a firework. In fact the volcano of Antofagasta now serving as the scenery has not erupted for more than 2000 years and is since then supposed to be extinct. As a violent metaphor volcanic eruptions represent the avant-garde yearning for the aesthetic forces that are flooding the realm of everyday life, overtaking the world beyond the art-world. With the morning dawn in the back time it also symbolizes the densification of some raw collective energy in a historical or revolutionary Zeitgeist. The revolutionary political philosopher Cornelius Castoriadis uses the same image. ‘Magma’ he calls the social forces of the producers with their potential for radical change. But in Passens’ video this all-changing event is somehow very mild and aesthetic. In some way it is that politely reserved that it almost appears decorative – especially because of the beautifully composed images of its scenery. But still it deals with the radical, the overwhelming and the brutal idea of the volcano. In this way Passens` video is shifting on the edges of art and revolution, aesthetics and politics without really taking a stand. In his ironical monumentalism one can find as much the nostalgic longing for the (aesthetically or politically) revolutionary event as its restraining and failure. The whole set remains ambivalent and leaves some questions open: Can magma exist? Is art still changing life? Is the volcano of avant-garde still active? Shall we really yearn for it? Johan Frederik Hartle List of exhibition, filmography... Name Gregor Passens Nationality Germany Year of birth 02.11.74 Fix Titel Wake up Artist/ Regisseur/ Music Gregor Passens Country in which produced Argentina Producer / Courtesy Gregor Passens Year of production 2005 Duration 5:25 Language No dialoge Color Genre Videoart Originalmaterial DV Video Copyright Gregor Passens