SONNENLAND

Austrian Cultural Forum, New York

Sonnenland

Installation
(Film 16mm/DVD, 16 minutes, looped)

In his video Sonnenland, Paul Divjak addresses a sensitive subject. He filmed handicapped children, showing the viewer the fine line between documentation and voyeurism via a sociopolitically controversial subject. Rather than violating privacy, his camera captured the direct, playful, and authentic interaction between those involved in the video shoot.

“Videorama – Absurdity, Subversion, and Form in Austrian Video Art”
Austrian Cultural Forum, New York

Participating Artists: Renate Bertlmann, BitteBitteJaJa, Paul Divjak, Thomas Draschan, Tomas Eller, Nicolas Jasmin, Anna Jermolaewa, Leopold Kessler, Stephan Lugbauer, Rudolf Polanszky, Gerwald Rockenschaub, Hubert Sielecki, Erwin Wurm

Curators: Gerald Matt, Andreas Stadler, and Angela Stief

Videorama Partners:
Austrian Cultural Forum, New York, USA, December 1, 2000 – January 23, 2010
Center for Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv, Israel, 2010
Der Kunstverein, seit 1817, Hamburg, Germany, 2010
Galerie Henze & Ketterer, Bern, Switzerland, November 28, 2009 – February 27, 2010
Lalit Kala Akademie, National Academy of Art, New Delhi, India, 2010
MSU Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb, Croatia, 2010
Museum der Moderne/Rupertinum, Salzburg, Austria, 2010
ParaSite, Hong Kong, China, 2010
Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Peking, China, 2010
Ursula Blickle Stiftung, Kraichtal, Germany, 2010
Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, Poland, 2010

Publication: A German and English booklet (approx. 60 pp.) with 2 DVDs edited by curators Gerald Matt, Angela Stief, and Gerhard Johann Lischka for Kunsthalle Wien has been published by Benteli Verlag to accompany the exhibition.



Eine Kleinigkeit

Galerie Maerz, Linz

Installation
White Cube, DVD (Edit 2007), 61 Minuten, geloopt

“Im DEFA-Film ‘Die Spur der Steine’ (DDR 1966) bekommt der junge Manfred Krug von einem Arbeitskollegen eine Flasche Schnaps zu Weihnachten. Mit den Worten ‘Von mir auch eine Kleinigkeit’ schenkt er dem Mitarbeiter seinerseits eine Flasche desselben hochprozentigen Getränks. In der von Paul Divjak zum Loop montierten Männerrunde findet der Tausch des immer gleichen Geschenks kein Ende …” (Quelle: Galerie Maerz)


84% of Destruction


Series #1-5, C-Prints, 2002