FEB. 24–AUG. 21, 2017
JOHN BOCK
IN THE MOLOCH OF THE PRESENCE OF BEING
Exhibited Works
1
Zweierlei Eigen, 2013
Installation with video, 42:11 min.
Four vitrines, lamps, rabbit cage, crucifix,two Madonna figurines,
canning jars, pillows, fishbone, pot, kitchen towel, plate, coat hanger,
medical pills, Babybel wax
2
Große Erscheinung der ins Licht getretenen
TRIEBKREATUR, 2014
Installation with video, 83:20 min.
Wooden hut, Toast Hawaii, colorful lightbulbs, metal diagram, hay,
grill, surveillance monitor, kitchen equipment, egg shells, bottle of egg
liqueur
3
Der Pappenheimer, 2013/2017
Installation with video (2013), 26:10 min.
Stone sculpture, cardboard box with light organ and smoke machine,
mechanical objects: eyeglasses, plastic bag, Fellini catalog, water
glass, potholder, plastic bins with scents (shampoo, hay), monitor,
surveillance camera, mixing board, tubes
4
HalluzinationsFusion, 2012
Installation with video Suggestion, 16:40 min.
Five wooden and metal spinning wheels, motors
5
Escape (part of the installation Appeldorn),
2013/2014
Installation with video (2013), 7:30 min.
½ car, slide projector screens, intestines
6
little by little, 2014
Sculpture
Four suitcases, sawed-up wooden sculpture, sawdust, poster, can of
Pringles, J. D. Salinger book, plastic bottle
7
Da-Dings-Da ist im Groß-Da-da weil der Wurm im
Moby Dick wohnt, 2014
Installation with video, 25 min.
Sun chair, dolls, blankets
8
Wopper-𝜋-Bean, 2010/2013
Installation with video 𝜋-Bean (2010), 31:10 min.
Metal sculpture, disco ball, wig, hospital drip
9
Sexy Socks, 2010
Installation
Stuffed socks, nylon stockings,farmer sculpture, small cabinet with
96 drawings, playing card, vacuum-sealed ham, medical pill
10
Ungetüm, 2012
Installation with video, 9 min.
Metal sculpture, diagram dolls
11
Dünnhäutiger Butcher, 2016
Installation with photos of actions mounted in a digital picture frame
Black rectangle, architectural model, chessboard, copies of Bobby
Fischer photos, pickles in socks, screws, cement, feathers, peas, rolls
of toilet paper, Fimo clay heads
Film Programme of the IBB Video Room
Showing John Bock’s latest feature film,
the Western Hell’s Bells:
Mar. 5–Apr. 3 (Wed.–Mon., 10:30 a.m.–6 p.m.)
Jul. 26–Aug. 21 (Wed.–Mon., 10:15 a.m.–5:45 p.m.)
and Apr. 29 (10:15 a.m.–5:45 p.m., Gallery Weekend
Berlin)
The works of John Bock are courtesy of Sprüth Magers, Sadie Coles HQ, Anton Kern Gallery, Gió Marconi, Regen Projects
BERLINISCHE GALERIE
LANDESMUSEUM FÜR MODERNE KUNST, FOTOGRAFIE UND ARCHITEKTUR
Alte Jakobstraße 124–128, 10969 Berlin, Mi–Mo 10–18h, www.berlinischegalerie.de
John Bock
In the Moloch of the Presence of Being
John Bock’s (b. 1965) exhibition In the Moloch of the
Presence of Being recalls a county fair or a freak
show. Freak shows were part of US entertainment
culture until the 1920s. Persons with physical
deformities or unusual abilities performed or were put
on display in public. Eleven separate works by the
artist have been integrated into the exhibition along
with eight of his videos. Colored spotlights bathe the
scenery in atmospheric light and transform it into a
giant stage that incorporates the viewers. On the
evening of the opening, the artist performed live with
actors in the exhibition. The performers included
Bibiana Beglau, Lars Eidinger, Laurenz Leky, Frank
Seppler, and Diego de la Rosa, among others.
The inspiration for John Bock’s idea to structure the
exhibition like a freak show was his work Große
Erscheinung der ins Licht getretene
TRIEBKREATUR, 2014 (2): a shabby fair booth
somewhere between a grill stand and a monkey cage.
In the front part of the booth, Toast Hawaii can be
prepared, in the back part there is a cage for a
human-animal creature that is displayed via a video
recording on a surveillance monitor.
Zweierlei Eigen, 2013 (1), emerged from the
eponymous feature film by the artist. The film is part
of the installation and is projected on one wall of the
exhibition hall. In four vitrines John Bock is presenting
props from the film, including a guinea pig cage,
fishbones, and a floor lamp. The film takes place in an
apartment and tells the mysterious story of two sisters
who commit suicide.
The center of the exhibition is the multipart installation
Der Pappenheimer, 2013/2017 (3). Casanova and a
stone sculpture that is reminiscent of a golem play a
crucial role. Various stations produce odors, sound,
and an image recorded by a video camera. All of the
elements are brought together in a round, white tent
and combined with afilm recorded in the installation.
The work was created in 2013 for the Hamburger
Kunstverein, where it continued through several
labyrinthine rooms. John Bock has coined the term
“Summenmutationen” (sum mutations) for this form of
restaging his installations.
The sculpture little by little, 2014 (6), derived from an
action in which an actress used a chain saw to
break down into parts a life-size painted wooden
portrait of the artist.
The work Escape, 2013/2014 (5), can also be called a
“sum mutation.” It consists of a Volvo sawn in half
and two video projections. One of them is set in the
car itself and features a chase scene with two
gangsters in the style of Quentin Tarantino. The other
projection was filmed through the rear window of a
moving car.
A tent made of blankets held together by safety pins
forms a cross-bar in the exhibition hall. It conceals
two more works: Wopper-𝝅-Bean, 2010/2013 (8), is
a kind of cage. It was part of the futuristic cave city
The Curve that John Bock developed for the
Barbican Centre in London in 2010. The associated
film was produced in connection with a live action in
the exhibition in London.
Opposite it is the work Da-Dings-Da ist im Groß-Da
da weil der Wurm im Moby Dick wohnt, 2014 (7). It
includes a deck chair that serves as a stage as well as
dolls, props, and a film. The last-named shows the
setting in action. An actor behind the chair uses the
dolls to tell the story of the white whale Moby Dick
and Captain Ahab in a idiosyncratic adaption by John
Bock.
The work Sexy Socks, 2010 (9), was first shown in
2010 in the exhibition FischGrätenMelkStand curated
by John Bock at the Temporäre Kunsthalle in Berlin. In
this restaging of the installation, John Bock has added
Ungetüm, 2012 (10), another of his sculptural works.
Ungetüm is combined with a video.
The artist himself performed in the installation
Dünnhäutiger Butcher, 2016 (11), for the opening.
The work revolves around the US chess grandmaster
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008). John Bock formed
Bobby Fischer heads in Fimo and gave them away to
the audience.
Brief Biography
John Bock (b. 1965 in Gribbohm, Schleswig-Holstein) lives
and works in Berlin.
Solo exhibitions at, among others, Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn,
2013; the Kunstverein Hamburg, 2013; Städel Museum,
Frankfurt am Main, 2012; Barbican Center, London, 2010;
Temporäre Kunsthalle, Berlin, 2010; Schirn Kunsthalle,
Frankfurt am Main, 2007, as well as numerous group
exhibitions, such as the 55th Venice Biennale, 2013;
documenta 11, Kassel, 2002; 1st Berlin Biennale for
Contemporary Art, 1998.
BERLINISCHE GALERIE
LANDESMUSEUM FÜR MODERNE KUNST, FOTOGRAFIE UND ARCHITEKTUR
Alte Jakobstraße 124–128, 10969 Berlin, Mi–Mo 10–18h, www.berlinischegalerie.de