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.