//KIDS//

Video/Film – 2012
Digital Cinema 4K, 13.34 min

The video //KIDS// (2012) by Nadja Verena Marcin narrates through a conceptual revision of the cult film Kids (New York, 1995) by Larry Clark the interaction of a group of young adults; the smooth transition between a shocking ritual and its adaption as lifestyle.

While ‚Female‘ is struggling with her demons, ‚Face‘ and ‚Guy‘ are on a tour looking for the innocent ‚Virgin‘ in downtown Manhattan. In Washington Square Park they meet the ‚Skater Boys‘ and ‚Skater Girls‘. Together, they batter a ‚Man in the Park‘; later they amuse themselves in a swimming pool and at a party. When ‚Female‘ finally finds them, they are already high, asleep and unconscious. Only ‚Face‘ is awake and has fun with ‚Virgin‘. A sudden and surprising end reverses the point of view.

By the particular mix of citation, inversion, irony, twilight behavoirs and exaggeration Marcin creates a society in which the title //KIDS// becomes a description of state; in which conformity prevails and consciousness is forgotten. Contemporary phenomena such as the obsession with youth, the manipulative influence of media images and the continuing globalization in a diverted world emerge.

Text by Sarah Corona

EXHIBITIONS

S: Solo Exhibition | G: Group Exhibition | Sc: Screening

Sarah Crown presents, Sarah Crown Gallery, New York (G)
ONE, WirvonSSIIEE Project Space, Berlin, Germany (G)
King Kong Theory, Momentum, Berlin, 2012 (G)
Action Manual Vol. I, Dortmunder Kunstverein, Dortmund, 2012 (G)
80wse presents, 80wse Gallery/ NYU Steinhardt, New York, 2012 (G)
Lost in translation, Jens Fehring Gallery, Frankfurt, 2011 (G)

EXHIBITIONS

9th Int. Short Film Festival Detmold, Detmold, 2013 (Sc)
29. Kasseler Dokumentarfilm- und Videofest, Kassel, 2012 (Sc)
Bideodromo, Bilbao Arte, Bilbao, 2012 (Sc)
Premiere of //KIDS//, ZKM- Museum for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, 2012, curated by Peter Weibel (Sc)

LECTURES

Lecture and Graduate Critiques, MFA DIAP – Digital and Interdisciplinary Art Practice, City College of New York, New York, 2013

SPONSORS

The project is made possible by Stipend for artistic research abroad, Ministry of Culture Nord Rhine-Westphalia, Düsseldorf, 2011; DAAD Scholarship for artistic research abroad/ New York, German Academic Exchange Service, Bonn, 2011

© 2024 Nadja Verena Marcin