[spectre] 'all about him' billboard art action - sofia center 22.09.2008

[bgspectre at artchannel.bg]

“ALL ABOUT HIM” CAMPAIGN

  A-A-H ! Campaign
( ALL ABOUT HIM Project )
Project  of : Goethe-Institut Bulgarien & “ 39 grama” Newspaper
address: Goethe-Institut Bulgarien, 1. Budapeshta Str. Sofia 1000,  
Bulgaria, tel. +395 2 939 0114
mail: prog at sofia.goethe.org
Project initiated and curated by: Ventsislav Zankov, contact tel. +359  
887519794, mail

vzankov[at]yahoo.com
projects' website: http://a-a-h.info


The ‘All about Him’ Project aims to reflect through artistic means and  
in the public domain

possible interpretations of men’s status nascendi in the first decade  
of the 21st c.

50 artists from 12 countries got involved in the project in 2008  
through employing the widely

used vehicles of communication, propaganda and advertising (print and  
electronic media). Their

visual proposals and concepts for interpreting the ‘men’ phenomenon of  
today were presented

censorship-free in an open-air exhibition at one of the most thriving  
public spaces in Sofia’s

downtown area: the city garden right across from the ‘Ivan Vazov’  
National Theatre. The selected

visual proposals and concepts were posted on-line on the project  
website, featuring comments

section for viewers and online voting which resulted in ‘The  
Pedestrian Award’ Winner Stefan

Bohnenberger for his work ‘Holly Imagination’.

14 of the works presented at the exhibition which have passed the  
project’s Final Selection will

replace the usual commercial billboards in Sofia’s downtown area on  
September 22nd to present

non-commercial artistic visions for men’s presence and absence, for  
alternatives to understanding

the men of today. The challenging goal of this project is to present  
and explore the

controversies in our understanding about men’s roles today, in the  
beginning of the 21 c., by

employing the same vehicles of propaganda and advertising which have  
invented for mass

consumption the clich'es and stereotypes of ‘being male’, of men  
representations and particularly

those linked to prosperity in the first place. This project opens an  
opportunity for claiming

self-reflection with a focus on the intimate and the personal in an  
environment of clich'es and

commercial ‘messages’, and thus questioning the authenticity of the  
convenient commercial image

in the process. It is an effort that strives to discard commercial  
images and to lend ambivalence

and (unpardonable for this environment) open-ended-ness in the search  
for men today. This project

braves to challenge the deeply commercial, aggressive and ‘barring the  
right to appeal’

advertising business  - and in particular the outdoor commercials at  
the hottest spots in the

metropolis - with visual interpretations and personal experiences  
linked to facing the mirror and

coming to terms with what men are today.

All about him Billboard Campaign,
Sofia September 22nd through October 6th 2008
…the crossing of Vassil Levski Blvd. and Tsar Osvoboditel Blvd. right  
across from Yalta Club and

the main entrance of Sofia University
…the crossings of Bulgaria Blvd. and Nishava Str, Gotse Delchev Blvd.,  
Nestorov Blvd and Todor

Kableshkov Blvd.
WATCH THEM OUT!

List of participating artists/works

Dan Tenev 1958, Bulgaria
  "Stands and tests 2001-2005"


Ferhat OZGUR 1965, Turkey/United Kingdom,
  “Felt Like A Prophet Today”, 2007,

Haimi Fenichel 1972, Israel,
"Horror Vacui" , 2008

Hua Kuan Sai 1976, Singapore/United Kingdom,
  "They will still be there next year"  (2007)


Jorrras -Georgi Georgiev 1975,Bulgaria
  series Distortions - "PAUSE" ,  2008

Leonarda Vidanne (Kristina Vidanec) 1977, Croatia
  "My partner – my friend" II, 2006.

Ljuben Bossilkov 1971, Bulgaria
"Men who arrive the from the country of light" 2008


Ljubomir Armutliev – Lubri, 1997 Bulgaria
  "A Man"

Noa Ben-Shalom 1975, Israel
"Soldiers", Hebron, 2001


  Paula Delgado 1977
Montevideo, Uruguay,
"How Come You Are So Beautiful" _03



  Rada Boukova 1973 Bulgaria / France
Dominique in Hamburg, 2007

Saso Vrabic 1974 Slovenia
  "Face" , 2006

Stefan Bohnenberger 1959 Gremany
  "How Prinz Stufitz reacted on a female attack", Hampi (India) 2000


Susanne Greven 1963, Germany
   "Man under the bed", 1994



Nominations for the 2008 ‘Ventsislav Zankov’ Grand Jury Award
The following artists have been nominated for the 2008 ‘Ventsislav  
Zankov’ award for independent

contemporary art (amounting 1000 EUR)
(more on the award http://a-a-h.info/zankov_award_en.htm)
•	Ferhat OZGUR 1965, Turkey/United Kingdom,
  “Felt Like A Prophet Today”, 2007,
•	Haimi Fenichel 1972, Israel,
"Horror Vacui" , 2008
•	 Rada Boukova 1973 Bulgaria / France
Dominique in Hamburg, 2007

The release of a catalogue featuring the participating artists and the  
award winning ceremony for

the 2008 ‘Ventsislav Zankov’ Award for independent contemporary art  
will mark the wrap-up of

project activities for 2008.