Paris, Adolf, Britney & Cho

This work explores how the meaning and interpretation of images has changed considerably the last 20 years, caused by the radical change of two factors: production with ubiquitous cameras and distribution via internet, mms, twitter etc. And how the dramatic change of these two factors, has affected the hierachy of human expression and communication forms. The absolute authority of the written word as mass media is undermined, today the right image taken by a random camera can have the impact force that shakes the world (for example Lynndie Englands and Charles Graners snapshots from Abu Ghraib). And governments punish virtual actions sternly, as had they happened in the physical world, just because the effect of the images are being deemed to be so significant. A recent example of this is the Putin govenments harsh punishment of Pussy Riots performance Punk Prayer in a russian-orthodox church. The video documentation of the mimed soundless performance got its soundtrack when it was uploaded to Youtube. In installations as Cho’s Trip to the Post Office from 2009 I investigate specific case stories, and try to close in on significant factors and single elements in this development.