dial H-I-S-T-O-R-Y: Three hijacked jets on desert Airstrip, Amman, Jordan 12 September 1970. dial H-I-S-T-O-R-Y, Johan Grimonprez, 1997 Photo: Johan Grimonprez and Rony Vissers
dial H-I-S-T-O-R-Y
| Artist | Johan GRIMONPREZ |
|---|---|
| Year | 1997 |
| Material/ Technique | color & b/w, stereo, DVD |
| Size/ Duration | 68 min. |
| Copyright Notice | dial H-I-S-T-O-R-Y: © 1997-2003 Johan Grimonprez INFLIGHT: © 2000 Johan Grimonprez |
| Year of acquisition/ donation | 2003 |
| Description | Born in Brussels, Belgium in 1962. Lives and works in Ghent, Belgium and New York, USA. Johan Grimonprez studied media art in Ghent, New York, and Maastricht. He began to participate in international media festivals and film festivals in the late 1980s, receiving international acclaim for "dial H-I-S-T-O-R-Y", which was first shown in 1997. He scrutinizes contemporary society and the vast quantity of images that surrounds it, creating works that verify its tools, including language and communication methods, while at the same time exposing and fiercely criticizing the way in which, as we seek to grasp reality, our senses are numbed as a result of the collusion between television and other media and our political and economic systems and by the flood of information. In 2008 he released Double Take, which references Alfred HITCHCOCK in depicting the control the media has over people. Consisting of a series of scenes from news footage and documentary video of various hijackings, "dial H-I-S-T-O-R-Y" exposes the deliberate involvement of the media in constructing reality. Advances in technology have manipulated the way we view the world, and in combination with voyeuristic desires and temptations, have turned tragedies into exhibitions, even transforming the way we view people’s deaths. The ‘dial’ in the title alludes to such acts as ‘zapping’ with a remote control and surfing the Internet. The way the scenes are edited so that the images constantly change demonstrates how images can become detached from reality and lose their meaning. As well, the pop music playing over the serious scenes hints at the critical situation in which such manipulation pervades television coverage to the point where it is how many of us perceive the world today. Based on the same critical perspective as "dial H-I-S-T-O-R-Y, INFLIGHT" consists of an airsick bag of the kind found in seat pockets on civilian airliners, a magazine outlining the history of hijacking in the 20th century with text and images borrowed from television footage, and a guide with advice and precautions to follow in the event of a hijacking. These are arranged inside the installation space together with other items including coffee and a video library. |
NOTES
This Collection Data page contains the works and materials in the collection of 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, as of April 1, 2018.
Artists are listed alphabetically by artist’s surname.
Works and materials by the same artists are listed according to the date of the work in principle.
Works whose dates are unidentified are listed at the end of each item. Some works are not listed according to the date of work due to their relations.
The data of works and materials are listed in order of title, production year, material/technique/form, dimensions, donor’s name, copyright holder and credit for photograph.
Dimensions are given by height (H) x width (W) in centimeters for plane work, and height (H) x width (W) x depth (D) in cm for 3-D work. Diameter (Ø) is used for circular work.
For the name of country or city, the name currently used in English is listed in principle.