André Werner | films

Films – Experimental Art Videos and Shorts

André Werner is a media artist who works with video, installation, performance and photography. His experimental art videos and shorts explore the boundaries between reality and illusion, perception and projection, image and sound.
In his films he combine elements of collage, animation, found footage, and sound design to create poetic and provocative visual narratives.

His earliest video art works were installations and live video performances that used multiple TV sets for multi-channel presentations. These works were site specific and required a lot of equipment and preparation, as well as financial support.
To make his art more flexible and accessible, André condensed these multi-channel works into single videos that could be easily screened or broadcasted. Thus, many of his movies are a continuation of the installative work.

One example of this transition is “Ukiyo-e“, which was first shown as a multi-channel installation in 1996 at the Galerie im Parkhaus, Berlin. The video shown here is based on the original installation loops.
Ukiyo-e, or ukiyo-ye (浮世絵, Japanese: “pictures of the floating world”), are woodblock prints and paintings of subjects such as female beauties, flora and fauna, and erotica. Parts of these prints are used as layers in this video.

Another example is “Die Sitte des Bilderfressens” (The Custom Of Eating Pictures), which he created with Cosima Reif in 1996. This video was inspired by the rise of satellite television and the proliferation of imagery through thousands of TV channels. The story is told as a rolling credit that still serves as a manifesto of Werner’s artistic practice.
It was nominated for the “German Videoart-price” ZKM Karsruhe and SWF and broadcasted on German television in 1997.

Around the beginning of the 21st century, André started to make more narrative films like “Manaka No Ie” or “The Eyes of Mankind“. These films added an independent category to his oeuvre, while still maintaining his experimental approach to video art.

André Werner’s experimental films and art videos combine elements from different media, cultures and genres, creating a unique aesthetic and atmosphere. They challenge the viewers to question their own perception and to immerse themselves in a world of images and sounds that transcends the ordinary.

Chachou Songe-Creux