The Emperor’s New Clothes

„The Emperor’s New Clothes“

Accessible art installation, 2014, rack with clothes hangers in a dark room with a projection of further empty hangers and voices from loudspeakers.
An installation about the „beautiful look“ of consumption and consumer behavior manipulation.
The tale of „The emperor’s new clothes“, one of the best known works of H.C. Andersen, is the story of a vain emperor, who is humbugged by the flattering salesmen. The naïve child, who outcries „He is not wearing anything“, points to the fact, that the experience of reality can be manipulated. An important insight in a world where advertising has an important influence on consumer behavior.

Press comment:

„He is not wearing anything!“ was heard from the Freie Kunstakademie last Wednesday evening again and again in a bright and sometimes shrill voice of a child, while a variety of empty clothes hangers hung at the racks. Marion Musch, artist from Filderstadt, welcomes about 60 listeners to Ottmar Brauns speech about „What happens after the growth-party“. It was held within the framework of the „Forum Sustainable City – Nürtingen“ in cooperation with the VHS. Many people will recognize that sentence will from childhood days and from the tale of „The emperor’s new clothes“, in which an emperor with and addiction to his wardrobes is deceived by two vendors, who pretend to weave the most exquisite dress, that only stupid people cannot see. Everybody feigns, until a lad calls out the said sentence. This remarkable story was a useful stepping stone for Ottmar Braune. At the beginning he claimed, that everybody who can’t see alternatives to economic growth is not any different from the tales chamberlains, who carry the train of the nonexistent emperor’s clothes… („Less is usually more“, Thomas Oser, Nürtinger Zeitung, 22.11.2014) »
Nürtinger STATTzeitung »

Event form 19.11.2014: here »

The video of my art installation was presented at the VIDEO KUNS FESTIVAL FOKUS 2015 (Feb 5thto Mar 1st 2015) in Kopenhagen.