Tuesday, September 16, 2008

all about him, public billboards

“ALL ABOUT HIM” CAMPAIGN

A-A-H ! Campaign
( ALL ABOUT HIM Project )
Project of : Goethe-Institut Bulgarien & “ 39 grama” Newspaper
Project initiated and curated by: Ventsislav Zankov

The ‘All about Him’ Project aims to reflect through artistic means and in the public domain possible interpretations of men’s status nascendi in the first decade of the 21st c.

50 artists from 12 countries got involved in the project in 2008 through employing the widely used vehicles of communication, propaganda and advertising (print and electronic media). Their visual proposals and concepts for interpreting the ‘men’ phenomenon of today were presented censorship-free in an open-air exhibition at one of the most thriving public spaces in Sofia’s downtown area: the city garden right across from the ‘Ivan Vazov’ National Theatre. The selected visual proposals and concepts were posted on-line on the project website, featuring comments section for viewers and online voting which resulted in ‘The Pedestrian Award’ Winner Stefan Bohnenberger for his work ‘Holly Imagination’.

14 of the works presented at the exhibition which have passed the project’s Final Selection will replace the usual commercial billboards in Sofia’s downtown area on September 22nd to present non-commercial artistic visions for men’s presence and absence, for alternatives to understanding the men of today. The challenging goal of this project is to present and explore the controversies in our understanding about men’s roles today, in the beginning of the 21 c., by employing the same vehicles of propaganda and advertising which have invented for mass consumption the cliches and stereotypes of ‘being male’, of men representations and particularly those linked to prosperity in the first place. This project opens an opportunity for claiming self-reflection with a focus on the intimate and the personal in an environment of cliches and commercial ‘messages’, and thus questioning the authenticity of the convenient commercial image in the process. It is an effort that strives to discard commercial images and to lend ambivalence and (unpardonable for this environment) open-ended-ness in the search for men today. This project braves to challenge the deeply commercial, aggressive and ‘barring the right to appeal’ advertising business - and in particular the outdoor commercials at the hottest spots in the metropolis - with visual interpretations and personal experiences linked to facing the mirror and coming to terms with what men are today.

All about him Billboard Campaign,
Sofia September 22nd through October 6th 2008
…the crossing of Vassil Levski Blvd. and Tsar Osvoboditel Blvd. right across from Yalta Club and the main entrance of Sofia University
…the crossings of Bulgaria Blvd. and Nishava Str, Gotse Delchev Blvd., Nestorov Blvd and Todor Kableshkov Blvd.
WATCH THEM OUT!

List of participating artists/works

Dan Tenev 1958, Bulgaria
"Stands and tests 2001-2005"

Ferhat OZGUR 1965, Turkey/United Kingdom,
“Felt Like A Prophet Today”, 2007,

Haimi Fenichel 1972, Israel,
"Horror Vacui" , 2008

Hua Kuan Sai 1976, Singapore/United Kingdom,
"They will still be there next year" (2007)


Jorrras -Georgi Georgiev 1975,Bulgaria
series Distortions - "PAUSE" , 2008

Leonarda Vidanne (Kristina Vidanec) 1977, Croatia
"My partner – my friend" II, 2006.

Ljuben Bossilkov 1971, Bulgaria
"Men who arrive the from the country of light" 2008


Ljubomir Armutliev – Lubri, 1997 Bulgaria
"A Man"

Noa Ben-Shalom 1975, Israel
"Soldiers", Hebron, 2001


Paula Delgado 1977
Montevideo, Uruguay,
"How Come You Are So Beautiful" _03


Rada Boukova 1973 Bulgaria / France
Dominique in Hamburg, 2007

Saso Vrabic 1974 Slovenia
"Face" , 2006

Stefan Bohnenberger 1959 Gremany
"How Prinz Stufitz reacted on a female attack", Hampi (India) 2000


Susanne Greven 1963, Germany
"Man under the bed", 1994

Nominations for the 2008 ‘Ventsislav Zankov’ Grand Jury Award
The following artists have been nominated for the 2008 ‘Ventsislav Zankov’ award for independent contemporary art (amounting 1000 EUR)
(more on the award http://a-a-h.info/zankov_award_en.htm)


• Ferhat OZGUR 1965, Turkey/United Kingdom,
“Felt Like A Prophet Today”, 2007,
• Haimi Fenichel 1972, Israel,
"Horror Vacui" , 2008
• Rada Boukova 1973 Bulgaria / France
Dominique in Hamburg, 2007

The release of a catalogue featuring the participating artists and the award winning ceremony for the 2008 ‘Ventsislav Zankov’ Award for independent contemporary art will mark the wrap-up of project activities for 2008.

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the final selection of14 artists for billboard action
"All About Him" 2008

22.09-06.10 Sofia center

Дан Тенев/ Dan Tenev 1958,
България, Bulgaria

stands and tests 2001-2005
Стендове и изпитания, 2001-2005

Ферхат Йозгюр/Ferhat OZGUR 1965
Turkey/United Kingd
om

“Felt Like A Prophet Today”, 2007


Хайми Фенихел/Haimi Fenichel 1972,
Israel, Израел


Horror Vacui *страх от празното, 2008

Хуа Куан Сай/Hua Kuan Sai 1976,
Singapore/United Kingdom

They will still be there next year 1 (2007)
Те ще са пак там и догодина

Жорас-Георги Георгиев/Jorrras -Georgi Georgiev 1975,
България,

series Distortions - PAUSE - 2008

Леонарда Видан/Leonarda Vidanne (Kristina Vidanec) 1977 Croatia/Хърватия

my partner – my friend II, 2006.

Любен Босилков/ Ljuben Bossilkov 1971
България, Bulgaria

Мъжете от Светлата страна

Любомир Армутлиев/ Ljubomir Armutliev – Lubri, 1997
България, Bulgari

Портрет на мъж с тениска 38

Ноа Бен Шалом/Noa Ben-Shalom 1975
Israel, Израел

Soldiers, Hebron, 2001
Войници, Хеброн,
2001

Паула Делгадо/ Paula Delgado 1977
Montevideo, Uruguay, Монтевидео, Уругвай

How Come You Are So Beautiful_03
как е възможно да си толкова красив #03

Рада Букова/ Rada Boukova 1973 България/Франция,
Bulgaria / France

Доминик в Хамбург, 2007

Dominique in Hamburg, 2007

Сашо Врабич/Saso Vrabic 1974
Slovenia /Словения

Face ( Лице ), 2006

Щефан Боненбергер/ Stefan Bohnenberger 1959 Германия/Белгия

How Prinz Stufitz reacted on a female attack, Hampi (India) 2000

Сузане Гревен/ Susanne Greven 1963
Германия, Germany

Man under the bed, 1994
човек под леглото 1994