Download
press release (MS Word format)
Joseph
Goebbels™ -campaign- (visual
program BELEF 05)
www.goebbels.info
25th July - 8th August 2005
The
art campaign, Joseph Goebbels™, will
appear within the Belgrade summer festival
(BELEF) from 25th July to 8th August 2005.
The author of the project is Aleksandar
Macašsev, an artist and designer from Belgrade.
The campaign deals with the "Joseph
Goebbels-like state" of contemporary
mass communication. The campaign includes
TV and radio commercials, billboards, posters,
free postcards available in Belgrade bookshops
and a web page that will follow the course
of the campaign. The Joseph Goebbels TM
campaign doesn't promote any event and it
doesn't sell anything. It uses well elaborated
media communication techniques for the purpose
of contemporary art. This year's selection
of the visual arts in BELEF puts an accent
on the broader possibilities of contemporary
art at the beginning of the 21st century
where the line between design, art, and
media promotion simply vanishes.
The
main visual motif of the campaign is a portrait
of Joseph Goebbels composed of media and
communication company logos which are visible
after closer inspection. "You should
look closer" could be another message
of this campaign. The logo of the campaign
represents four loudspeakers in the form
of Nazi symbols. In the course of the campaign,
Joseph Goebbels™ establishes itself
as a brand and a symbol of our times. It
is a work of art that speaks of mass media
through mass media. On the www.goebbels.info
web page you can find additional information
about this project. The page will be updated
daily during the course of the campaign.
At the beginning of September a complete
case study and reactions to the campaign
will be published.
Joseph
Goebbels is widely known as the Nazi minister
of propaganda during World War II. Joseph
Goebbels™ project tells us that Dr.
Goebbels became a paradigmatic figure that
established contemporary media culture and
mass communication. Propaganda exists from
the early days of human civilization, but
it gets its full power during World War
II because of the huge development of infosphere
and media (radio, movies, outdoor advertising,
wide circulation of printed material...).
Even though intense propaganda existed in
Russia, the United Kingdom and USA, Nazi
propaganda with Joseph Goebbels remained
the most remembered (most likely because
of the post-war propaganda).
The
famous statement of Dr. Goebbels that "A
lie repeated a thousand times becomes a
truth" is the ultimate rule of contemporary
media culture. The beginning of the 21st
century is marked with a global infosphere
(the internet, twenty-four hour news, direct
broadcasting, an unimaginable number of
non-stop radio, TV and cable stations, mobile
communication, etc), which carries countless
messages to media consumers. The power of
the infosphere lies in the fact that a large
majority of recipients believe these messages
really speak the truth. Real truth has become
irrelevant; all we have to believe in are
messages and narratives. There is no truth.
A message repeated a thousand times becomes
a "truth".
Aleksandar
Maćašev was born on 3rd of August 1971 in
Bečej. Member of the Serbian Association
of Applied Artists and Directors Club of
Serbia. Teaches interactive design at the
Department of Computer Arts and Design,
BK Academy of Arts. His work spans the range
of contemporary art, graphic/web design
and advertising. His work has been shown
extensively in Serbia and abroad. Awarded
for web art and design. Cooperates with
independent teams in production of cultural
events (Mirko Ilic Exhibition, PUNC'T exhibition,
MIKSER production etc). Writes for Remont
and Genius Domus magazines.
Check out the author's web page BLACK PIXEL
- www.the-mighty.com
contacts:
author: Aleksandar Maćašev tel: 064 18 18
350 e-mail: mighty@the-mighty.com
visual program curator: Anica Tucakov e-mail:
anica.t@eunet.yu
PR BELEF: Ljiljana Šović tel: 011 3061 575
e-mail: PR@belef.org
