Bauchhöhle bauchen by John Bock
March 1, 2016 to March 6, 2016
This week as part of the group exhibition Further Than I Can Throw A Stone, we will present Bauchhöhle bauchen an excessive and absurdist performative video that is signature to the work of renowned Germany artist John Bock.
Bock is a performer and a narrator. He builds long yielding stories that chronicle the lunacy of contemporary life, directly addressing its excessive consumptive drives. He is like the id that society can’t suppress as he sets himself in a cast of anarchic characters into a chaos of action
In his performative work, he creates a frenzy, pacing the streets, piling detritus, grooming himself, making odd slimy concoctions, yelling at himself, falling in and out of windows, crawling through tunnels. He is always in movement seemingly about to unravel. For Bauchhöhle bauchen, he represents a Japan post-Fukushima, capturing an irrational national reserve and deep denial of a catastrophic nuclear breach that he exposes through self-abusive prodding and solitary penance.
John Bock is a multi-media artist primarily for his lectures that parody academic activity, and his immersive installations. Bock performs inane routines in impermanent environments crafted from household objects, detritus, furniture, wood, and other found items. He has exhibited and performed internationally at venues including Schinkel Pavillon, Berlin; Kling & Bang, Reykjavik; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Fondazione Nicola Trussardi, Milan; Jumex Foundation, Mexico City and Städel Museum, Frankfurt. He has participated in numerous biennials, including the Venice Biennale; Documenta, Kassel, Germany; and Performa, New York.
Bauchhöhle bauchen is one of ten art videos and short films presented as part of Further Than I Can Throw A Stone. Over the duration of the exhibition, a selection of works by a diverse and international group of artist is presented sequentially as stand alone artworks, each projected for one week at a time. They are joined through medium and an interplay of performance and biography.
On Tuesday, March 9th, Plug In ICA will launch Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster and Tristan Bera’s Belle comme le jour.
Cécile B. Evans, Trilogy (January 22 – 31) • Kelly Mark, 108 Leyton Ave (February 1 – 7) • Lisa Jackson, SAVAGE (February 8 – 14) • Erika Vogt, Darker Imposter (February 15 – 21) • Erica Eyres, Autobiography I and II (February 22 – 28) • John Bock, Bauchhöhle bauchen(February 29 – March 6) • Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster and Tristan Bera, Belle comme le jour(March 7 – 13) • Karrabing Film Collective, Windjarrameru, the Stealing C*nt$ (March 14 – 20) • John Knight, MacGuffin 8 -2975 (March 21 – 27) • Jeremy Blake, Winchester (March 28 to April 3).
Plug In ICA gratefully acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Manitoba Arts Council and Winnipeg Arts Council. We thank the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts for their support of our 2016 and 2017 program, and we extend gratitude to The Winnipeg Foundation and all our generous donors, valued members and dedicated volunteers.
For general information please contact: info@plugin.org
For media inquiries please contact: Janique Vigier at janique@plugin.org or by phone at (204) 942-1043 ext. 27