Vom Turm zu Babel an den Ufern des Rheins
From the Tower of Babel on the banks of the Rhine

Description

The work is composed of two tapes, two monitors and a text. (Source: Wulf Herzogenrath, "Marcel Odenbach, Das im Entwischen Erwischte Pläne 1975-1983 Video", Germany: Kunsthalle Bremen, 2008, p.191.)

"My work is an installation in a separate room. It consists of two monitors, each embodying a different temporal understanding of Gothic, as well as two quotes assigned to the monitors that complement the contrast shown. The medieval Gothic style that is hidden here shows the blue video recording of the central nave of Cologne Cathedral up to the choir on a high plinth. This recording is set to music with liturgical chants. Here the light-flooded Gothic interior appears as an image of the heavenly Jerusalem; it was built for God and to serve God.
The Neo-Gothic, whose elements are directly perceivable, shows the black and white composition of the cathedral portal with its towers and the cathedral building lottery. The alternating recording is partly set to music by a Wagner opera. The rediscovery of one's own Nordic history elevated Gothic to the national architectural style. The pathetic completion of the Cologne Cathedral testifies to a sacred building that becomes a symbol of a political-ideological idea."
(Source: Zdenek Felix (ed.), "Marcel Odenbach - Videoarbeiten", Germany: Köln, 1981, p.95.)

Additional Informations

This work has been presented in Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne, Germany, in 1980. (Source: Udo Kittelmann (ed.), "Marcel Odenbach, Ach, wie gut, daß niemand weiß", Germany: Köln, 1999; p.110.)

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