CONCRETE HEART
a rock opera

May 11. 2003 at 9 pm
location: Z-inema in Z-BAR, BERGSTRASSE 2, BERLIN MITTE


songs and lyrics by Røde Mor
directed by Frans Jacobi
produced by Frans Jacobi and Martin Kern
DVD-video, 2002, 36 minutes

 

CONCRETE HEART was produced originally by the Danish art group Røde Mor Rock 'n Roll Circus in 1975. The initial production was as a mix between political theatre and rock concert. Confronted by the new right-wing government and the ice-cold political climate in Denmark in 2002, visual artist Frans Jacobi produced a reinterpretation of CONCRETE HEART in February and March 2002.

This new performance ran for six evenings at i-n-k (institute of contemporary art) in Copenhagen. A mixed group of visual artists and musicians re-enacted eleven of the original songs, in a low budget, off beat production. This video is yet another interpretation of those eleven songs.

The original, harsh political satire of CONCRETE HEART has become, in the new versions, more fragmented and disparate. Eleven images tell the story of a lonesome, heartbroken man. After his sad divorce, he experiences a long night of paranoid hallucinations, in which good and evil societal forces struggle to conquer his future.

Frans Jacobi is a Danish visual artist, born in Copenhagen in 1960. He works primarily with sculptural installation, photography, and collage. CONCRETE HEART is his first video production. Jacobi's artworks often involve strong narratives focused on problems of the lonely heart, sometimes with political overtones, as is the case with CONCRETE HEART.

Frans Jacobi has shown work previously at Sparwasser HQ in the group exhibition, We want to believe, July 2000.