Catalogue > At random

"1550 San Remo Drive" was filmed in February 2017 on the premises of the Thomas Mann House in Pacific Palisades, California, USA. The video features quotes from Thomas Manns diaries (1940-1943), architect JR Davidson and advertisements from the real estate companies which marketed the house, before it was bought by the German government in November 2016 for $13.25 million. The video features detailed shots of the uninhabited house before its recent renovation, quotes from Thomas Manns diaries (1940-1943) and advertisements from the real estate companies which marketed the house. "1550 San Remo Drive" reflects on personal, economical and representational desires and aspirations.

Niklas Goldbach, born in Witten, Germany, lives and works in Berlin. After studying Sociology at Bielefeld University and "Photography and Video" at the Unversity of Applied Sciences Bielefeld, he was awarded with the "Meisterschüler" degree at the University of the Arts Berlin in 2006. In 2005 he received the Fulbright Grant New York and majored in the MFA program of Hunter College, New York City. In his videos, photographies and installations Goldbach is involved in the relation between architecture and ethics within modernist traditions and postmodern cities. Established between reality and fiction, Goldbach's works use architectural concepts and elements to create ambiguous perceptions of man-made environments. In his recent videos and photographs, he appropriates urban environments as stages to examine the relationship between subjectivity and hierarchical societal structures within and beyond the nation state through the lens of a globally expanding interconnectivity of these sites. In his earlier film works, his often duplicated protagonists have colonized epic stages of modern architectural complexes, postmodern urban environments or alleged paradises defying civilisation, all finding their commonality as places oscillating between utopia and dystopia. Niklas Goldbach received several scholarships (among others Stiftung Kunstfonds Bonn 2010, Arbeitsstipendium Bildende Kunst des Berliner Senats 2013, Projektförderung des Berliner Senats 2014, Dresdener Stipendium für Fotografie 2016, Villa Aurora Los Angeles 2017) and presented his works in numerous solo shows, group exhibitions, and festivals in venues such as the Museum der Moderne, Salzburg, Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid, Mori-Art Museum, Tokyo, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein n.b.k., documenta 14 public programs, Berlinische Galerie - Museum of Modern Art Berlin, Cornerhouse, Manchester, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Centre Pompidou, Paris, Houston FotoFest Biennial 2016 and the Short Film Festival Oberhausen.