Paul Garrin
Yuppie Ghetto with Watchdog
1989
ausgestellt
© Paul Garrin; Photo © Photo: Paul Garrin
- Artist / Artist group
- Paul Garrin
- Title
- Yuppie Ghetto with Watchdog
- Year
- 1989
- Category
- Video
- Installation
- Computer-based
- Format
- Video Installation
- Material / Technique
- interactive video installation; computer: Macintosh Quadra 605, custom software and video interface, LaserDisc player (today: Dexter Emulator), video camera, tube television and monitor, projection, sound, metal fence, chain with lock, wall with graffiti
- Dimensions / Duration
- Installation dimensions variable
- Collection
- ZKM | Center for Art and Media
- Description
- Paul Garrin is part of the second generation of American video artists, whose works combine technological innovation with social criticism. Garrin, who discovered the medium of video in 1980 during his studies, was Nam June Paik’s assistant from 1981. “Yuppie Ghetto with Watchdog“ is Paul Garrin’s first interactive video installation. He realized it together with David Rokeby, who developed one of the first audiovisual interaction systems in the course of his work „Very Nervous System“ (1986-1990). Garrin’s installation invites the viewer into a spatial environment made up of various scenes. At the back of the room, an excerpt from his video „Free Society“ (1988) is projected. It shows a gathering of wealthy people (so-called “yuppies”) drinking champagne carefree in a luxurious apartment while street fights with the police and military rage outside. The contrast between these two worlds is reinforced by the spatial arrangement: the projection of the interior is separated by a concrete wall sprayed with graffiti and a metal fence. A shepherd dog, which appears on a monitor, guards the entrance and reacts directly to the movements of approaching people, which are registered by a video camera. In „Yuppie Ghetto with Watchdog“, Paul Garrin addresses social inequality, police violence, and the possibilities and risks of new surveillance technologies. The work is therefore more relevant today than ever.
Author
Clara
Runge
Images
Paul Garrin, »Yuppie Ghetto with Watchdog«, 1989-1990, video installation, installation dimensions variable, ZKM | Collection© Paul Garrin; Photo © Photo: Paul Garrin
Paul Garrin, »Yuppie Ghetto with Watchdog«, 1989–1990, interactive video installation; computer: Macintosh Quadra 605, custom software and video interface, LaserDisc player (today: Dexter Emulator), video camera, tube television and monitor, projection, sound, metal fence, chain with lock, wall with graffiti, Installation dimensions variable. ZKM | Center for Art and Media © Paul Garrin© Paul Garrin; Photo © ZKM | Center for Art and Media, Photo: Joe Miletzki
Paul Garrin, »Yuppie Ghetto with Watchdog«, 1989–1990, interactive video installation; computer: Macintosh Quadra 605, custom software and video interface, LaserDisc player (today: Dexter Emulator), video camera, tube television and monitor, projection, sound, metal fence, chain with lock, wall with graffiti, Installation dimensions variable. ZKM | Center for Art and Media © Paul Garrin© Paul Garrin; Photo © ZKM | Center for Art and Media, Photo: Joe Miletzki
Paul Garrin, »Yuppie Ghetto with Watchdog«, 1989–1990, interactive video installation; computer: Macintosh Quadra 605, custom software and video interface, LaserDisc player (today: Dexter Emulator), video camera, tube television and monitor, projection, sound, metal fence, chain with lock, wall with graffiti, Installation dimensions variable. ZKM | Center for Art and Media © Paul Garrin© Paul Garrin; Photo © ZKM | Center for Art and Media, Photo: Joe Miletzki
