FERDINAND KRIWET – MEDIAWAKE
2017-06-19At its core, KRIWET’s work embraces principles of Concrete Poetry, in which visual strategies such as typographical composition and repetition of text are employed to create meaning in a poem. Expanding on these concepts he took a uniquely political and avant-garde approach to art making. Though not formally trained as a writer or artist, he infused his work with a varied body of influences, such as Constructivism, Beat Poetry, Pop Art, as well as the writings of Walter Benjamin. KRIWET was far ahead of his time in many respects, particularly in his appropriation of mass media to analyze the languages and cultural influences of television, advertising, and commercial photography.
KRIWET’s films are sound and picture collages that are characterized by dynamic fast cuts and an affinity for optical patterns and graphic surfaces. In 1969 he traveled to New York with the intention of collating the media broadcasts and printed matter reporting on the Apollo 11 launch. Renting a room at a hotel in New York City, he set up numerous television sets and filmed them with a 16mm camera; he also collected sound bites from radio broadcasts, recording the event from take-off to landing. Using the cut-up method, he assembled these articles of mass media into audio, book, and film works. The resulting film, Apollovision was shown nationwide on German television later that year.
Exhibition runs through to August 11th, 2017
Luhring Augustine
531 West 24th Street
NY 10011
New York
