Oliver Pietsch: The Shape of Things

Opening September 6th 2008, 6-8 pm

Goff + Rosenthal is pleased to present two new videos by Oliver Pietsch.

Each of Oliver Pietsch's video works is a montage of both new and historic film. Pietsch combines widely recognized and obscure material into trenchant and complicated explorations of human emotion. Meticulously extracting short sequences of film footage from historic sources, Hollywood blockbusters, documentaries as well as independent cinema and combining the recycled edits with an accompanying soundtrack, Pietsch's reinterpretation intrinsically creates a new narrative. Although evolving from a certain theme, his video collages defy a particular message and deconstruct archetypal filmic strategies, particularly in his latest films "Because" and "The Shape of Things".

In the front gallery, "Because" takes viewers on a dreamlike flight through cumulus clouds, with occasional scenes of blissful sunrises and sunsets. The synchronous soundtrack comes from the Beatle's song "Because" which itself is a re-edited work of nine harmonies sung by only three singers. The thematic sequences of "The Shape of Things", in the back gallery, employ a variety of motifs, interspersing humorous and erotic fantasies, as well as peaceful slumber with debilitating phobias, private anxieties and psychological torments. This accumulation of images is open to interpretation as the viewers take their own journey, making individual connections between scenes to form a highly personalized narrative. Pietsch adeptly uncovers the inner structure of film to reveal a restrictive, uniform system and leads us to question our rudimentary methods of perception.

Born in Munich in 1972, Pietsch graduated from the Academy of Arts in Munich in 2003. His work has been included in numerous international exhibitions and festivals such as Under Influence at the Kunsthaus Dresden this year, Cine Y Casi Cine at the Museo National Reina Sofia in Madrid, in 2007, as well as the Edinburgh International Film Festival, Her(his)tory at the Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens and the International Short Film Festival in Oberhausen. Further film festivals over the past three years include Transmediale in Berlin, VideoEx in Zürich, INCAA in Buenos Aires, and the London Film Festival. His work has also featured in Sleek Magazine, Time Out New York, ART Magazine, Flash Art and Art Review.

Oliver Pietsch: The Shape of Things