John Bock’s practice belies simple explication. Working in a variety of media including drawing, film, performance, and sculpture, he creates complex installations comprised of quotidian materials such as cable, cardboard, Q-tips, foam, and tape along with personal products like shaving cream and toothpaste. Each individual item becomes fused together to create a whole, forming an installation of re-contextualized objects that take on new meaning once installed within the gallery.
Film still of John Bock’s Three Sisters. Photo: David Schultz. Courtesy the artist and Regen Projects, Los Angeles.
The centerpiece of the exhibition presents a large-scale installation featuring the props and stage set for Three Sisters, the accompanying film playing in the side gallery. The film tells the story of three siblings who come together to avenge the untimely death of one of the sisters’ young daughters. Evoking tropes of slapstick and farce, the narrative explores themes of repressed desire, fear, loss, anger, and tragedy.
Installation view of John Bock Three Sisters Regen Projects, Los Angeles
Bock designed the set from drawings he made that were then materialized into sculptural form. Shot against a stark black backdrop the white sets comprised of objects and furniture create a space that resembles drawings suspended in midair that the characters in the film activate. These elements serve as a sort of diagram intended to convey and interpret the ideas behind the film to the viewer. Placed in the gallery and outside of the diegetic world of the film, the visitors to the gallery transcend the role of spectator and become active participants in the installation.
Mining a visual aesthetic reminiscent of German Expressionist film, with Three Sisters Bock develops his own language and artistic vocabulary to create an emotional and highly idiosyncratic world in which connections are made between language, the built environment, and the individuals who inhabit it.
6750 Santa Monica Boulevard Los Angeles CA 90038 www.regenprojects.com
About The Artist
John Bock (b. 1965 in Gribbohm, Germany) lives and works in Berlin.
Selected solo exhibitions include Im Modder der Summenmutation, Bundeskunsthalle Bonn, Bonn (2013); Lost-Egg in the Desert, Jumex Foundation, Mexico City (2011); Curve-Vehicle incl. ?-Man-(.), The Curve Commission, Barbican Centre for Contemporary Art, London (2010); Nöle, Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Málaga, Málaga (2010); PALMS, REDCAT, Los Angeles (2008); Films, Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt (2007); Stapelung, MoMA PS1, Long Island City (2007); and the Institute of Contemporary Art, London (2004), among others. Bock has been included in three Venice Biennales (1999, 2005, 2013) and Documenta 11, Kassel (2002). Appeldorn, a multi-media installation and lecture, was featured in the Art Unlimited section of Art Basel (2014).
His work is held in the permanent collection of numerous museums and institutions worldwide such as Carnegie Art Museum, Pittsburgh; Goetz Collection, Munich; Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY; Ludwig Museum, Cologne; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt Am Main; The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; North Miami Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami; TATE, London; and the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis.
Installation view of John Bock Three Sisters Regen Projects, Los Angeles
