Thuistezien 125 — 22.12.2020

Christoph Draeger
Elephante


In the work of the Swiss multimedia artist Christoph Draeger, his fascination for the dark side of humanity bubbles up. For the work Elephante he created a reconstruction of the last 10 minutes of the film Elephant, made by filmmaker Gus van Sant. In 1999, a massacre took place at Columbine high school, a Colorado high school. Two students shot one teacher and twelve fellow students, after that the perpetrators also took their own life.

Christoph Draeger's reconstruction, part of the exhibition ‘Temporary Wall of Voodoo’, was shown at West in 2011. In the video we hear a voice-over with fragments of an interview with Gus van Sant. Van Sant analyzes his own film in a way that distances us from the violence in the fragment, it has an alienating effect. By mixing fiction and reality, Draeger provides a confronting and at the same time ironic view on reality. Especially in this day and age this is an important approach, our playlists are full of series and films in which violence and criminals are leading. We are getting used to the constant stream of images of heinous acts and it doesn't seem to reach us.

Christoph Draeger examines the role of the media in reporting disasters such as this one, and other matters primarily on terrorism, mass murders and the psyche of a murderer. In his work, Draeger reconstructs attacks and disasters in a subjective, crude and sensitive way. In doing so, he emphasizes the human aspect and the resulting social impact, and takes a critical look at the role of the media.