Orchester reloaded (2000-2007/2012) – Anna Jermolaewa
- 8-channel video installation
8 monitors, 8 DVD players, 1-4′
Anna Jermolaewa and Kerstin Engholm Galerie
Anna Jermolaewa
- * 1970 in Saint Petersburg (RU), lives in Vienna (AT) and teaches in Karlsruhe (DE)
Children’s wind-up toys go through their paces on the 15 screens. Anna Jermolaewa substitutes small automatons, cheap industrial products, for the musicians and instruments of the video orchestra. In her other works too, Jermolaewa transmutes childlike miniature worlds of pop-up figures, remote-controlled cars and stuffed animals into uncanny, even threatening scenarios. The sounds of music boxes and tinkling bells can be heard on the soundtrack.
There is nothing in Orchester reloaded that evokes the masterpieces of mechanical toy art. Endless loops direct the attention to repetition. As with György Ligeti’s Poème Symphonique for 100 metronomes, this mechanical orchestra requires no conductor. What happens on the monitors is not coordinated: the individual loops play in complete isolation. A polyphony of tireless movements and sounds arises – obsessive, disconnected, and at the same time liberated from all restraint.
Sound sequence: Orchester reloaded (2000-2007/2012)
- Photo: Anna Jermolaewa, views of Milch vom ultrablauen Strom/ Strategien österreichischer Künstler, Kunsthalle Krems, 2000