Machine Fair by Joas-Sebastian Nebe

Machine Fair by Joas Sebastian Nebe is a video series about the inner structure of urban spaces as machine parts. The video work compares the mechanisms of metropolitan perception with mechanisms that make a machine work. Using video images of Berlin cityscape, re-framed and changed during post production brings out an unique aesthetic quality that is neither documentary (the usual visual research format for left wing film makers) nor fictitious (the usual format for entertainment).

MACHINE FAIR, HDV, 2010, 6min 49sec, eNGINE, 1m 21s, FLYWHEEL, 2m 14s
MOVE FORCE, 3m 12s, OXYGEN MASK, 5m 33s,V-BELT, 2m 12s

Below check out some still images from the full-length film followed by a brief analysis of the work.

MACHINE FAIR by Joas-Sebastian Nebe

The work of Joas Sebastian Nebe opens up a dialogue with Viennes Actionism from a reverse angle. While he likewise draws on themes such as ritual sacrifice and mythic imagery, his work aims to expose the hidden violence within contemporary structures as opposed to open rebellion by means of performative art works as seen in the works of Adolf Frohner, Nitsch and Muehl.

Nebe establishes a meta-discourse, discussing in his art works the range of different ways of rebellion against repressive social constraints. Nebe’s starting point includes the denial of the orgiastic experience which is inherent in Viennese Actionism. The viewer is denied any cathartic relief. Instead the impact of veiled resistance becomes uncertain. By withholding that final relief, the spectator is at the mercy to the same passive aggressiveness which is the main theme within the narrative of the imagery.

Nebe’s work demonstrates that the subtle mechanisms of power cannot be resolved within the classical aesthetic function. By reversing and inverting the viewing angles Nebe brings to light forms of violence that exist in the shadows of human behavior. By showing that violence of any kind never can be a solution to human problems, Nebe’s art conveys an important sociopolitical message.

Rebecca Schoensee, art historian