Edited by BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, texts by Mark Gisbourne, Tony Grisoni, Joachim Jäger, Marius von Mayenburg, Luk Perceval, David Thorpe, Christiane Zentgraf
German/English
2004. 148 pp., 59 color illst.
ISBN 978-3-7757-1512-6
€ 42.00
Indian flower-sellers, Turkish trash-collectors, Chinese cooks, and Thai prostitutes - Julian Rosefeldt (born in 1965 in Munich) confronts viewers of his video project asylum with stereotypical European views of foreigners and ethnic minorities. In his seductively opulent tableaux vivants, he exaggerates and parodies popular conceptions about roles and professions, while embedding his protagonists in strangely surreal scenes and ritual contexts. As the book's title suggests, the video sequences oscillate between security and insanity and ultimately between xenophilia and xenophobia, compelling the viewer to reflect upon the reality of migration and its presentation in the media.
The publication features photographs taken during shooting, film still from Rosefeldt's nine asylum films, probing essays, and an interview with the artist.

Exhibition schedule: Festival d'Avignon July 3-July 24, 2004 · BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, August 7-October 3, 2004 · Spike Island, Bristol, November 4-December 12, 2004