Veredelungsökonomie I / Economy of Refinement I

HD Video - 24 minutes - German with English subtitles - 2011

The new concept gallery C Schwarz brings an established principle from the world of global trade to Vienna’s grey art scene: The alternative art market METAmART is used as a pool of stock footage, eight artists of the gallery develop new artworks from raw material bought on the market, the audience can observe the Refining process via live video, the up-cycled, refined pieces of art are routed back to the market and sold at significantly higher prices.

Veredelungsökonomie I from Daniel Bleninger on Vimeo.

Supercargo

2-Channel Video Installation - HD Video - 13 minutes - Chinese with English subtitles - 2010

Christoph Schwarz took the opportunity to come on a container vessel to a residency programme in Shanghai. As a ship steward on the “MS Confidence” – operating in a “semi-automatic routine” – he was the only person on board for the longest parts of the voyage. To overcome isolation and boredom he began to document his trip on video.

Supercargo from Daniel Bleninger on Vimeo.

Gift Economy Worker Kyoto

HD Video - 13 minutes - Japanese with English subtitles - 2010

Christoph Schwarz proposed a collective experiment to “hanare”, a self titled „culture and social center with kitchen“ in the Kamiyoku dictrict, Kyoto/Japan, with his physical self in the very center: He offered himself being their “collective property” for the limited time of 2 weeks. Hanare could use him to serve their very own purpose, whatever this might be.

Gift Economy Worker Kyoto from Daniel Bleninger on Vimeo.

Vienna - Hanoi

Video installation together with Anh Tuan Nguyen - VISIT: www.artmami.multiply.com
12min Video, German/Vietnamese with English Subtitles.

In an informal kitchen chit-chat about the private situation and everyday life issues the artists try to find the others’ perspective – by simply swapping the roles. Improvisation and translation problems produce two hybrid identities, showing similarities of artist’s lifes in Europe and Asia.