urbanrecall 1

Date

July 20, 2018

Location

KHM (Academy of Media Arts), Cologne, Germany

Audiovisual Performance, 60mins

Technique

Founded on October 15, 1990, the KHM is the first university for media art in Germany. The then Minister of Science and Research, Anke Brunn (SPD), initiated the founding of a new academy in Cologne in the 1980s with new focuses such as video, film, laser, photography, sound and computers. This made the academy something special compared to other academies where art students can study the classic art genres, including painting and sculpture. It is especially important to keep the location in an urban space that is formative for media art.

The artists Ali Chakav, Joel Jaffe, and Navid Razavi met during their studies at the Academy of Media Arts (KHM). It is no wonder that their premiere, and thus the prototype of urbanrecall took place at the KHM as its first venue. Their first audiovisual performance of was presented in a “clean” seminar room (such as white cube) of the university. There is no site-specific history of this spaces, which made the performance so autonomous that the work was ultimately disconnected from the site. The first performance made prompted the artists to leave the institutional, functional space and go outside.