“That is art beyond media: the impossible –
And you are dealing with it.”
-Vincent W.J. van Gerven Oei and Jonas Staal, Follow Us Or Die (Atropos Press, 2009)
Thursday, April 29, 7:30pm (free)
Artists Vincent van Gerven Oei and Jonas Staal explore the relationship between art, morality and society. In their work, they transform a court session into a performance, fragments of car bomb wrecks into jewelry, while a suicide terrorist is judged on his composition techniques.
Their video pamphlet “Follow us or Die” is a reflection on so-called ‘high school shooters’, young people who kill their teachers and classmates in a brutal manner. The visual and textual legacy of these ‘shooters’- the pre-recorded videos and texts circulating in the media after the events – function as central elements in the video.
The corresponding book presents short stories, poetry, theater pieces, visual outputs and essays that deal with the heritage of these young shooters – who saw total annihilation as the only possibility to express themselves – to point to core fears and desires in contemporary society.
On Thursday, April 29th we’ll be joined by Vincent W. J. van Gerven Oie for a book reading, screening and artist talk that will situate these subjects in a broader social and artistic context.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Vincent W.J. van Gerven Oei studied composition, linguistics and conceptual art in Den Haag and Leiden, The Netherlands and Amherst MA, USA. He is a PhD candidate in the Media & Communications department at the European Graduate School, Saas-Fee, Switzerland. His research targets the borders and interfaces between art, technology, activism and theory and encompasses installations, pamphlets, essays and lectures. Van Gerven Oei works and lives in Den Haag, The Netherlands.
