Videoart feature
CologneOFF
Wilfried’s participation in the Biennale of Electronic Art 2004 in Perth had a key function in the course of his activities. The RRF Project installed during the Biennale – featuring 8 “Memory Channels” were representing on one hand the endpoint of the development of the past 4 years – opening at the same time already the perspectives to new directions of paths to follow.
When Wilfried started on 1 January 2000, for him the Internet had that magic function to be that field of activities for the reborn artist, it was his life, because his physical constitution recovered slowly, only. Like for any other artist who was using the Internet since its establishment in the late 90’ies of 20th century, also for Wilfried the Internet was connected with ideals and new expectations like “freedom”, independence and a self-determined life as an artist. These characteristics were representing the true motivation to choose the new “virtual” environment for artistic actions. But the reality wasn’t that idealistic, because after some time all the ideals turned out to be illusions more or less.
One illusion was of conceptual nature, the so-called “independence”, because Wilfried had found out, that according to his experiences the Internet got its actual relevance as a medium for art in an exchange between virtual and physical space only. Once having realized that cognition, Wilfried’s view on the “world” changed radically, because the Internet had represented for him a medium for his own survival as a human individual and artist, and suddenly everything seemed to become invalid.
While Wilfried’s physical constitution had stabilized since 2000, and the first attempts to travel in 2002 were failing, yet, the invitation in autumn 2003 to participate in BEAP 2004 had incredible motivating and encouraging effect, because Wilfried recognized the travel to Australia would open to him a new dimension in his physical and virtual life. He felt a bit like Eliza Doolittle, when he returned from Australia back home in October 2004.
Had Wilfried faced his artistic activities since 2000 as a continuous experimenting in order to find out, at all, the true dimensions of the Internet as an artistic medium, and now in 2004, he continued experimenting following new directions. Two directions were less focussing on the aspect of interactivity, but rather media related – art and moving images (videoart) and sonic art (soundart) and a conceptual direction focussing his artistic activities on curating, an advanced virtual level – experimental curating via the new platforms VideoChannel and SoundLAb, both were two “so-called “Memory Channels” extracted from The RRF Project after its physical installation on BEAP 2004.
In the meantime, Wilfried had become a video artist, as well, which had great influence on changing his preferences into the direction of moving images. Wilfried had been participating with his net based works, as well as videos in festivals worldwide, and on 22 January 2005 he was sitting with Micha in his studio, when he was shouting out loud – “now I have it”. “What do you mean”, Micha asked anxiously, because Wilfried often had Utopean ideas, which were impossible to realize. “I’ll make a festival”, Wilfried said. “Are you crazy?”, answered Micha, but then Wilfried explained, he just wanted to simulate a festival and do it, like he had done before with other numerous projects – as an art project online!
He explained, it would be the only consequence after what he had done before. His projects were such successful because other people, artists, curators, the audience would give his activities the all-motivating relevance. That would be only crucial point for his new ideas, that other people would give his “festival” the relevance. So, on 22 January 2005 the ideas for creating Cologne Online Film Festival (abbreviated CologneOFF) were settled with a glass of Champagne.
Was it just a Utopia? Obviously not. After publishing an open call in Internet on 23 January, already in April 2005, CologneOFF I – 1st Cologne Online Film Festival was released online, Wilfried had become a festival director, and until 2014, in total 10 festival editions were following, each year another one under another topic, an unusual success story – particularly via global-wide networking.
When Wilfried started on 22 January 2005, it was not to foresee how the networking aspect initiated with The RRF Project would develop further on – although, or better, because his new activities were basically depending on networking partners, it was actually giving him the freedom of experimenting and this way, another kind of independence, he was not depending on public or private funding. Only this way, it was possible to establish the remarkable collection of about 8000 art videos – which again was very particular in the sense, because this collection was community based – curated and coordinated by Wilfried on behalf of the community of participating artists.
Open the FURTHERFIELD article – here
NewMediaFest2020 selection
includes following videos
Daniel Lo Iacono (Germany) – Digital Snapshots, (2:30), 2003
Maurizio Sanhueza (Peru)- My Old Man’s Pistol, 2012, 2:36
John Graham (Canada) – Move, 2011, 7:48
Antje van Wichelen (Belgium) – Lost and Found, 2013, 9:34 **
claRa apaRicio yoldi (Spain) – Iconosfera, 2015, 04’45’’
Shuai Cheng Pu (Taiwan) – Still Here, 2010, 4:50
Albert Merino (Spain) – Lot’s Shadow, 2011, 6:37
Robbie Rackleff (USA) – Dark Fortress Occult Master of Space: Level 3, 2010, 4:21
Roland Quelven (France) – La Chambre d’Eric Bm 2014, 4:31
QNQ/AUJIK (Sweden/Japan) – Impermanence Trajectory, 2013, 07:00 ***
Brit Bunkley (NZ) – Godzone, 2017, 5:32
Gwendoline Pouchoulin (France) Violet Fire /// Transmutation Climax !, 2017, 7:52
Marc VEYRAT & Franck SOUDAN (U-rss team) – OD-i_see , 2015, 3:12
Sandrine Deumier (France) – UnReality, 2012, 1:00
Francesca Fini (Italy) – DADALOOP, 2015, 10:00
Laura Cabrera Díaz y Sira Cabrera Díaz (Spain) – “Irreconciliables, II”, , 2014, 3:54
Gabin Cortez Chance (USA) – Do Americans Dream of Being Electric Sheep, 2014, 7:52
Jeremy Couillard (USA)- Blackhole memory, 2012, 5:56 **
Dee Hood (USA) – Going Along, 2012, 3:11 ***
Alessandro Amaducci (Italy) – Black Data, 2012, 4:05
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