Joep van Liefland: Dauerwerbung

On view 1 – 30 April 2018

If you turn the TV on late at night, you'll be greeted by some dubious channels. The most harmless of them show non-stop advertising for fashion, jewellery or household items. Joep van Liefland's Dauerwerbung (Non-Stop Advertising) was born of these nightly, non-stop streams. At the same time, the artist seems to have spent a lot of time in home improvement centres watching promotional videos that persuade potential buyers of the advantages of a particular tool brand. Joep van Liefland's video Dauerwerbung calls both to mind. Only in his video, the Dutch artist has brought together all of their bad characteristics: It can always get worse.

Accompanied by cheesy music, "manager" Joep van Liefland welcomes us into his shop. His "master enterprise" is clearly a mobile video rental shop called Video Palace, which despite its name (or perhaps because of it) seems to be a complete dump. The video presents a slideshow with the cheapest of visual effects: "Huge selection!!!" "Top titles!!!", "Renowned and competent!" This is how he promotes film trash in a trashy establishment. "Enjoy the moment! Great ambiance!" And that with cheap horror, porn, and splatter films on offer.

The broken German found on some of the made in China products is also worthy of note. There is a "nice atmosphere" and "low-price alert" ("you can't get any lower"), and there are "special branches" that offer a "true experience!" Tarp-covered shacks and shipping containers are touted as "top locations" in "special VIP cabins": "Outdoor," "Now available in Holland!" The Video Palace offers "popular film for everyone" and that at a low price: "our prices are ex-factory!" There's talk that he'll be opening a branch at Dortmunder U soon.