SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22ND

Emerging Arts Presents

LOVE, ART&WAR

A Multimedia Art Extravaganza Showcasing the work of Over 40 NYC Artists.

including Christian de Lutz with the digital projection of the Meta Content series


go to Emerging Arts website



text on my digital projection in the exhibition:


meta content- source code images

The series meta content, 2001-3 began with a series of black and white
photographs I took in Macedonia during the 1990s.

In 2001 I was working with the idea of conceptual trompe l'oeil images -
manipulating photographs to make them appear as paintings, video stills,
etc.

In late 2001 I began experimenting with the idea of making 'faux-night vision'
images which imitated military surveillance technology. At about the same
time I became acquainted with a text
by the new media sholar Denisa Kera. The text was part of a larger projects
by scholars at the Charles University in Prague in cooperation with the
Open Society fund researching myths and archetypes and Balkan nationalism.

The text in question was part of a larger analysis of nationalist websites.
The text on Macedonia posited a unique paradigm for Macedonian sites.
Instead of concentraing on Macedonian myths these websites seemed obsessed
by the myths of their neighbors- what Ms. Kera referred to as 'mythophobia'.

For me this idea of 'mythophobia' and fear of ones neighbors fit well with
the paranoic images I was creating. Furthermore it was very much the opposite
of the grand myths found in thos eneighboring countries- a kind of negative
(like a photographic negative) of 'Greater Serbia' or the Greek 'Megala
Idea'.

I have incorporated the source code from Denisa Kera's original site (http://balkan2001.webpark.cz)
into the images, which are all taken in Skopje. To further the 'negative
effect' I have used images that point to the minority and non-Macedonian
(Slav) population (Albanian, Roma, Turkish).

more on the META CONTENT series on my May 7 2002 blog entry

Werben>Bewerben >Europa- Yearning for Europe- a project for a New Europe



Hungary, 2002


Werben>Bewerben >Europa- Yearning for Europe- a project for a New Europe

In January 2004 ten countries are expected to join the European Union. At least another eight are engaged in talks
with the EU or have expressed interest in doing so.

My project, Werben >Bewerben >Europa, incorporates, photography, digital imaging, computer software
source codes and the internet to explore the image and self-presentation of these countries.

The project
The project, was originally proposed for Alexanderplatz U-bahn (subway) station, as part of an ongoing public arts
project. I envision the project being exhibited in a public space, preferably one that is accessed by large numbers
of people during their daily lives. The location could be anywhere within the current 15 nations of the European
Union

The artwork could be shown in several formats:

1. Advertising spaces – billboards, walls of public buildings and access ways. The images would be exhibited at
various sizes- from A0 to billboard format in places normally used for advertising or informative notices.

2. Works printed on 'backlight film' would be attached to the windows or display cases. Several fluorescent lamps
could be placed behind the film creating the effect of an architectural light box.

3. Works could be projected as part of a revolving 'digital slide show' of all the countries in the series. Each image
would be shown for a duration of 30 seconds, enough time for a view to decipher the content. Alternatively multiple
beamers could be used. Beamers would be timed so that different images were projected on multiple screens at
any time, images would appear to travel throughout the exhibition space - going from screen to screen.

The 'digital slide show' could be projected from behind onto a window to which an opaque or transluscent screem
were attached.

The works themselves
The works are all made up of photographs, taken by the artist during the last eight years. They have been digitally
altered and collaged with HTML source code from the main page of the government web site of the nation where
the photograph was taken.

The main page or 'Index' page was chosen as the source of the virtual representation of each nation. The
government web sites function as a basic information source and as an advertisement for each nation as it tries
to present itself as a part of a modern Europe.

Often the HTML source code shows information not visible on the website as viewed through a web browser. The
META Content and description lines often include 'keywords' or subjects that are to be noted by search engines
such as 'Google' and 'Yahoo'. The use of Javascripts may show the versatility and craftsmanship of the web
designer employed by the featured nation.

In altering the color, hue and saturation of the images I plan to provoke a more careful analysis of the images on
the part of the viewer. The image reveals itself more slowly, and the viewer is thus more attentive of small details
in the images, that he or she might normally overlook. The added dimension of the text/ sourcecode invites the
viewer to investigate the whole image further- to put together a puzzle of sorts.

The individual images will be untitled, leaving it to the viewer to figure out which countries they represent by
means of the text/ source code and an affixed national emblem. My aim is to acquaint the viewer a little more
intimately with these new nations, who are now applying (bewerben) to join a larger United Europe.




Czech Republic .......Estonia..............Poland................Turkey.................Slovenia.................Slovakia

new images from september/october 2002




untitled (istanbul) 1999/2002





republika e shqipërisë, 1998/2002



for more images click here

on june 25 the trail from srebrenica, 1996/ 2001 was exhibited
as part of the break 21 festival of emerging artists














photos by davide grassi copyright 2002

roma in osteuropa, the 1999 exhibition curated by regine rapp opened
in erfurt, germany in an abbreviated form ( 15 of the original 27 photographs).
on June 23rd.
the venue is the kleine synagoge or small synagogue and is part of the
festival of roma culture, heimat, dir wir mit uns tragen
The exhibition remains open until July 28th






as part of the festival the romanian band fanfare ciocarlia performed in erfurt on June 22.





all photos copyright christian de lutz 2002

the inaugural exhibition of the plaetterei gallery in berlin friedrichshain opened on may 30th.
artists include anna pannek, boban radosavljevic, samuel weisman and christian de lutz


photos from the vernissage by tim deussen, www.tapezismus.de copyright 2002



installation with lightbox meta content 4.0 1995/2002




installation detail, untitled (sarajevo library) 1996/2000




installation detail, untitled (sarajevo library) 1996/2000




photos of installation/vernissage by tim deussen copyright 2002
Any and all copyright infringements will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

upcoming exhibitions

galerie plaetterei, berlin (jessnerstr. 22 friedrichshain) inaugural exhibition opens may 30th, 2002 more info

roma in osteuropa, part of the heimat, die wir mit uns tragen festival inerfurt, germany june 23- july 28, 2002

break21 festival of emerging artists kapelica gallery, ljubljana slovenia opens 25 june, 2002

meta content,
2001 digitally altered photograph


based on a series of photographsof skopje, the capital of macedonia, and hypertext
by media scholar denisa kera.

the text explores nationalist websites from the former yugoslavia. the section
on macedonia explores the theme of mythophobia, fear of ones neighbor's
myths.

denisa kera's text

my website

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send message
(cdelutzblog@yahoo.com)

My current solo exhibition The Balkans in Turmoil will be up at the Potter Library galleries at Ramapo College, Mahwah NJ through 10 April. http://www.ramapo.edu/berriecenter/galleries/potterlibrary.html I have also been invited to exhibit this spring in Ljubljana, Slovenia, as part of the Break 21 Festival of Emerging Artists. Please note that the festivals opening has been postponed until 18 June. http://www.break21.org/

weblog for christian de lutz