Lars Von Trier's Challenge to the People will Premiere on October 12, 2012
GESAMT - Disaster 501: What Happened to Man
Press screening: October 11, 2012
See more information below and watch the trailer here
Great love stories, devastating wars, evil fathers and innocent children: Great emotions comes into play when a genius challenges the community. More than 400 people from 52 countries have submitted a total of 501 contributions of highly original and very personal material to the user-generated film project Gesamt, a work uniting people from around the globe. Gesamt has asked the questions: What is the result when people reinterpret the great and controversial art pieces of our time? Is it for everyone to make art? What is art? And do we stand out the most when we stand together?
People from countries such as Colombia, Ukraine, Thailand, USA, Brazil, Uzbekistan, Japan, Germany, Denmark and Spain have all answered to the challenge set by Danish director Lars von Trier: In August 2012 he asked people from around the world to reinterpret one or several of the following six art works: James Joyce’s novel Ulysses, August Strindberg’s play The Father, Albert Speer’s monument Zeppelinfield in Nuremberg, the painting Where do we come from? Who are we? Where are we going? by the French painter Paul Gauguin, the French composer César Franck's Sonate in A major and Sammy Davis Jr’s step dance performance Choreography. The major part of the submitters taking part in the challenge comes from the US. From this part of the world 59 people have sent their contributions to Gesamt. Next comes Brazil with 50 contributions, while Denmark has a number of 24 contributions.
Participants were asked to create up to five minutes of material within one month and submit either a film, a video, stills, music or a sound piece to Gesamt. Director Jenle Hallund had the great task of going through all the material and putting it together for the final work. The result is a film installation with the title Disaster 501: What Happened to Man, which will premiere at Charlottenborg in Copenhagen, October 12., 2012.
A world of disasters
The idea behind the Gesamt project is to symbolize man as part of a community. It is the union of the people, the sense of togetherness that gives the power to create. But paradoxically the contributions coming in have told a different story: a story about loneliness and longing, says director Jenle Hallund. Her first priority has been to respect the emotions, the themes and the atmosphere of the submissions.
“I am very grateful for all the wonderful, personal and original testimonies that people have sent from around the world. It is impressing to experience how much work people have put into this”, Jenle Hallund says.
The submissions have included everything from dramatic love stories to experimental art films. But one thing stood out:
“The majority of the submissions spoke of fear, loneliness, anger, destruction and hopelessness. I was seeing and listening to people from all over the world, from different cultures and different languages and they were exploring the
declining state of our morality, the violence in the dance between the sexes and the complex father-daughter relationship. Each piece is a personal testimony of the realism of the individual's soul”, she says.
“But there is still hope”, Jenle Hallund continues. “In the midst of darkness a light persists. There is a hope for a better world and a testimony that we are not that different after all. If nothing else, the dialog from so many cultures has shown me that the human condition is the same, no matter where in the world you exist”, she says.
Gauguin the most popular
With 127 testimonies relating to Paul Gaugain’s painting, the French painter has inspired most submitters. Albert Speer’s Zeppelinfield took second place with 58 submissions inspired solely by his monument, while the least, 26 testimonials, have found their calling in Sammy Davis Jr’s performance Choreography.
The presentation of Gesamt will be as original as its creation. At Charlottenborg in Copenhagen people will have the unique experience of allowing their senses and imagination to travel to all four corners of the world in a unique setting. Disaster 501: What Happened to Man will be displayed on four screens and four audio systems in a black box theatre. Each screen, one in each corner, will be running simultaneously together therefore creating Gesamt; a cacophonous tale created by people from around the world.
PRESS SCREENING:
On October 11 2012, there will be a press screening of Gesamt starting at 10 am. The screening will be about 40 minutes long.
If you should wish to attend the press screening, please contact the head of communication at Charlottenborg Helle Bøgelund (+45 2815 95 43 or helleh@kunsthalcharlottenborg.dk).
Submit with the name(s) of attendees and which media you represent.
OFFICIAL OPENING:
Gesamt, Disaster 501: What Happened to Man, will be open for the public during Copenhagen Culture Night October 12 2012 from 6.00pm-12.00am.
EXHIBITION PERIOD:
Gesamt will be on view from October 12 to December 30, 2012.
Location: Charlottenborg, Nyhavn 2, 1051 Copenhagen, Denmark.
Opening hours: Tuesday-Sunday 11.00am-5.00pm. Wednesday: 11.00am–8.00pm. Monday: Closed.
Free entrance every Wednesday after 5.00pm. www.kunsthalcharlottenborg.dk. Information: (+45) 33 36 90 50.
For more information about Gesamt, please contact:
Nadia Claudi
Project leader, Gesamt
P: +45 26 11 89 98
E: nc@cph-artfestival.org
Helle Bøgelund
Head of communication, Charlottenborg
P: +45 33 36 90 42
E: helleh@kunsthalcharlottenborg.dk
Read more at www.gesamt.org
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Watch the trailer
Gesamt is produced by Copenhagen Art Festival and curated by Christian Skovbjerg Jensen. Concept is created by Lars von Trier and Jenle Hallund is the director of Gesamt. Copenhagen Art Festival is an international festival of contemporary art organized by Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Den Frie Centre of Contemporary Art, Gl. Strand Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art, Nikolaj Copenhagen Contemporary Art Center, and Overgaden Institute of Contemporary Art. The festival opened 24th of August 2012 and continues throughout the fall.
