Artist: Bob Demper
Exhibition title: In Tall Buildings
Curated by: Clara Pallí Monguilod and Johan Gustavsson
Venue: 1646, The Hague, The Netherlands
Date: May 3 – July 17, 2024
Photography: Jhoeko / images copyright and courtesy of the artist and 1646, The Hague
Note: Exhibition booklet is available here
“Bob Demper’s practice and research is increasingly relevant as large corporations grow in power, while governments become fnancially dependent on them and struggle to regulate their infuence. It is therefore imperative that we look critically at how they operate and affect our lives.”
1646 Co-directors: Clara Pallí Monguilod & Johan Gustavsson
In Tall Buildings is an exhibition that examines the hidden powers that govern many parts of our lives. Financial power is a concept that becomes more intangible with each attempt to understand it, and is often hidden in tall buildings. Through extensive research into the development of global capitalism, stock markets and large corporations, artist/filmmaker Bob Demper seeks to understand its impact on our existence. Demper looks at how the risk taken by the corporate world is almost always a public risk, and how this relentless pursuit of growth has led to polarisation, confusion and a lack of understanding of what governs our everyday lives.
The exhibition In Tall Buildings is part of the long-term feature film project 5000 Miles that Demper has been working on for the past few years. It is a film that is un-traditionally made in small parts, with each exhibition building on the larger narrative. The main character, Donny, works at a large asset manager company. Inspired by a real life example, this company uses an electronic system that manages almost a tenth of the world’s wealth. By using complex algorithms, data based on past events and often very personal information from millions of people, it predicts market risks and moves money from its clients accordingly, keeping the financial market stable. “In such a world, real change is currently impossible because an algorithm predicts and corrects any change or instability,” says Demper. This means that if we ever want real social and political change, this system will need radical change.
You are invited to join us for the opening on 03/05, from 19:00, and to walk through carefully crafted film sets. Spaces that make us feel the tension between these opaque financial worlds and our private space, where we find ourselves on the edge of dreams and reality.
Mark your calendars: Bob Demper’s Background Evening is scheduled for 21/06.
In Tall Buildings is open for visits until 14/07.
Curated by Clara Pallí Monguilod and Johan Gustavsson
About Bob Demper
Bob Demper (b. 1991) is a multidisciplinary artist living and working in The Hague (NL). By employing familiar cinematic motifs in his work, Demper’s artistic practice creates expectations for the audience that can be subverted, fulfilled or deconstructed. His approach extends across various mediums, with ideas that appear in his longer films mutating into shorter videos, sculptures and installations, creating a cohesive body of work. His work has been shown at Museum Helmond, Nest Den Haag, Prospects/Art Rotterdam and ENCU Shanghai (CN).
