Bernd Herzogenrath, professor at the Institute of English and American Studies, virtually brought together 133 artists from the fields of film, sound, text, and photography for his project “©ovid’s Metamorphoses.”
UniReport: Professor Herzogenrath, the box set with book and CDs for “©ovid’s Metamorphoses” is now available. What was the biggest challenge in realizing this unusual project, conceived and executed during the COVID-19 pandemic?
Bernd Herzogenrath: Honestly – it never felt like a challenge. I simply reached out to artists whose work I admire, and apart from two polite rejections, everyone agreed to participate – it seemed that during the pandemic, people were eager to be involved in a project designed for “remote collaboration” … I’m pretty sure this wouldn’t have worked outside the pandemic! Every time a new contribution arrived, it felt like Christmas and my birthday rolled into one – I was overjoyed and couldn’t stop smiling… just wonderful! If anything was a challenge, it was the production of this beautiful object in all its glory – that really took forever – but now it’s here!
The audience is treated to a cornucopia of texts, films, sounds, and photographs. Do you have a personal highlight? Or a recommendation for newcomers on how best to approach these new metamorphoses?
The whole thing is essentially a parallel universe you can get lost in – and maybe that’s the point. It’s almost like a rabbit hole on the internet; you keep clicking deeper and deeper… but that can be a good thing! My personal highlights include “metamorphosis 9” (not just because I was personally involved), which in retrospect revolves around the idea of “Black Magick” (or “Secret Black Technology”). It features not only Richard Reed Parry of Arcade Fire, but also the legendary Lee “Scratch” Perry – perhaps in one of his last recordings. All we were missing from the Perry/Parry family was Katy Perry – but I didn’t have her address [laughs]. Another standout is “metamorphosis 13”, which explores the theme of the “non-human” – with recordings of spiders playing their webs like string instruments…
It’s been five years since the start of the pandemic and much has already been forgotten. From the perspective of art and artists: is the crisis over, or is the arts sector still struggling with collateral damage? Has it managed to benefit from the digitalization boost?
After the crisis is before the crisis – everything is still with us, more or less latently… and the arts – at least the “small-scale” arts, the ones that weren’t and aren’t subsidized by the state – are still struggling. I think the much-discussed “death of club culture” is just the tip of the iceberg.
