John Bock: ZERO HERO

September 26, 2006, Miami ---The Moore Space presents ZERO HERO (2004-2005), a performance and installation by John Bock. Originally presented at the 51 st Venice Biennale, this installation and performance will be the inaugural exhibition at The Moore Space Loft, a new 7,500 square foot warehouse space located at 3627 NE 1 Court, Miami, Florida 33137, run by The Moore Space and dedicated to long-term projects.

ZERO HERO , probably Bock's most refined performance work to date, depicts Kaspar Hauser, teenage boy who appeared in the streets of Nuremberg, Germany, in 1828. The boy lived from birth to the age of about sixteen in a small, dark cell with a straw bed for company and consuming only bread and water for sustenance. Hauser was the ultimate outsider: unable to speak, nor properly walk; devoid of human contact, reason or memory; and unskilled in the use of his hands, the boy confronts the city and its inhabitants. Initially he is treated like a curiosity and a freak, and as he is guided through the ways of the Western civilized world, he is eventually driven to despair.

In ZERO HERO , John Bock creates his own interpretation of this peculiar life in the form of a man who appears in the world and with the help of others, passes through different stations, in the form of sculptural objects of one grand installation. This is a man who comes out of a cave, learns how to walk, to talk and to escape his previous life. John Bock's Kasper Hauser is not defeated by his devastating past; instead, he is the one who finally takes over power and becomes self confident. This story takes place in a scenario typical for John Bock with lots of props and hilarious situations. During the performance, Bock and another actor roll raw egg on their arms, apply a vibrating portable mixer to their chests, hang upside down, and pull stuffing out from under their shirts, while on the installation's multiple video screens Bock is seen sticking his head into a bucket of spaghetti.

John Bock, who was born in 1965 near Hamburg and is currently living in Berlin, is one of the most celebrated German artists to emerge in the late 1990s. His work has been presented in exhibitions around the world including solo presentations at the Museum of Modern Art, New York (2000) and the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam (2003). Among his countless group-exhibitions are The Carnegie International, Pittsburgh (2004), Manifesta 5, San Sebastian (2004), Documenta 11, Kassel (2002) and the 48th and 50th Venice Biennial, Venice (1998 and 2003).

Pressetext

John Bock
ZERO HERO
06.12.06, 10:00-17:00 Performance und Installation