Catalogue > At random

The film combines a scene from the movie "Copycat" (1995) with footage of my editing the film. It is a reflection on the idea of artistic originality as well as the art world’s constant desire to instantly transform everything – even the current health crisis – into works of art. The chosen scene shows Sigourney Weaver playing a psychologist suffering from agoraphobia having a nervous breakdown in a well equipped apartment in which she has been living housebound for several months. Despite the luxurious interior, her only source of social comfort is provided by the back then recently invented internet. Sitting at her desk admidst several clunky computer monitors she exchanges short messages with her distant chat partners. This footage is contrasted by textual inserts questioning the necessity and original value of artistic production in contemporary art. Weaver’s dramatic performance and the questionable 1990’s chic of the apartment add a humorous layer of critique on egocentric and classist character traits not uncommon in the art world. "Housebound" was commissioned by the 66. International Short Film Festival Oberhausen. It is my contribution to the festival's discussion: "Can and should one make films now?"

Jens Pecho studied at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne as well as the Staatliche Hochschule für Bildende Künste – Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main. As a visual artist, he works mostly with text- and video-based installations. His works have been shown internationally at museums as well as film festivals, among them the Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Forum d'Art Contemporain – Casino Luxembourg, the Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art, Israel, the Bangkok Biennial, Thailand, the Museum Kunstpalast Düsseldorf, Germany, the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Germany, the Message to Man IFF Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation, and the Uppsala International Short Film Festival, Sweden. He received several awards for his work, including the Spiridon-Neven-DuMont-Prize, the Young Artist Award from the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and most recently the Video Art Award of the city of Bremen.