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. , , a ,	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 Kingdom “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