"My piece is based on the hysteria that surrounded certain music recordings of the 1960s and 70s. Some rock bands, like the Beatles, Judas Priest and Led Zeppelin were supposed to have put hidden messages in their records that could only be heard when played backwards. These messages would subconsciously be picked up by the listener who would then react in response to them" -- Jeroen Offerman. It's also about auditioning as a rock star in the bathroom mirror.
Jeroen Offerman lives and works in London and Berlin. His work comprises installations, sculpture and short performances in which he uses various materials.
"...things really got going in a truly spectacular manner with Jeroen Offerman's (2003). Appearing in a trance and singing a twisted rendition of an unrecognizable record backwards, he disappeared back down the gallery's stairs to baffled applause. After another act, Offerman reappeared to project the documentation of his performance. Projected in reverse within the same space as the original, the video magically produced a near-perfect rendition of Led Zeppelin's classic 'Stairway to Heaven' (1971). At times Offerman appeared like an image of Edvard Munch's (1893) in reverse, sucking in expelled cigarette smoke, while the video was punctuated by an increasingly uncanny sense of recognition and a strangely emotional response from members of the audience. Unusual in the fact that it had appeared so soon after the event, the video or 'documentation' had become a secondary 'performance' in its own right. Adding another giddy layer of interpretation, the entire chain of events was filmed by artist Thorsten Knaub for the resulting exhibition, the 'correct' documentation subsequently acting as material for an undecipherable 'original'. Confusing ideas of temporality and language, Offerman's work succeeded In articulating ... strategically critical, yet ultimately unpredictable excessive energy." -- www.frieze.com/review_single.asp?r=1923
Awards:
International Film Festival Rotterdam, 2003 "Audience Award", Hamburg Short Film Festival, 2003 New York Underground Film Festival, 2003
Chicago Underground Film Festival, 2003
"No Budget Awarcf', Cinematexas, 2003
Olympia Film and Video Festival, 2003
Morl Museum, Tokyo, 2003
(more screenings in Europe)
Contact Ralph McKay: amovie@earthlink.net
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The Stairway at St. Paul's
8:00, Beta SP, UK/Germany, 2003
Program: Security Blanket
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