Sommer, Rolf

Whisk / 2006

Installation, Black adhesive film / disco mirror ball / colored spot lights / sound

Whisk

The interplay of the dance step and the music had already inspired several fellow students to dance while setting up the show. I also observed numerous visitors dancing on the evening of our opening.

The day of our official opening was rapidly approaching, and I had yet to make changes to my installation. I wanted to remove the last spark of white cube from my little space. A disco mirror ball and two spots would turn the room into a kind of dance hall in order to dispel the recipient´s last inhibitions; everyone knows you can dance better in disco lighting than in neon light. An lo an behold, people were dancing around in my installation, an I was even allowed to be a dance instructor now and then – a wonderful experience.


Whisk

(© Rolf Sommer 2006)

3,2,1… MEINS (MINE) / 2005

Photo-/video-installation

33 images representing teddy bears, hang in three rows in a type of tableau on a wall. Vertical and horizontal formats are mixed.

Opposite the images there is a small monitor on a white podium, on which text fragments are played. The bizarre citations do not hint as to where they originate from, however in light of the work title it becomes clear that they must be comments about the condition of a product.

Together with the images of the teddy bears, the work grants a small insight into the private environment and the emotional world of the e-bay-seller. However how much is reality and how much fiction? Is a piece of intimacy consciously or unconsciously given a price?

3,2,1... Meins (Mine)

3,2,1... Meins (Mine)

Mambo Magic / 2006

Video

Dirty Dancing, a film with cult status. Didn’t everyone want to dance like Patrick Swayze? Was it not for many a dream to dance once with Jennifer Grey? I have realised this dream…

By deliberately imitating the stars I wanted to become a star myself. An utopian thought which is already from the beginning deemed to failure. Something will always be missing. Whether the right partner or the right location or the right connections; through imitation one will certainly not become a star. And yet one imitates constantly other people, consciously or not, in order to come closer to an aim…

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Vita

*1977 in Huttwil (CH)
lives and works in Hasle-Rüegsau (CH)

Projects