Tobias Bernstrup
Encyclopedia
Tobias Bernstrup is a contemporary artist working with videos
, interactive works, live performances and electronic music
. He received an MFA
from Royal College University of Fine Arts Stockholm
in 1998, where he also met up with artist colleague Palle Torsson
.
and gothic
noir
, he has created a stage persona with gender-crossing live performances dressed in elaborate costumes of shiny rubber and heavy make up. In videos and animations often inhabited by his digital alter ego/Avatar
and in live performances where the artist dresses as a computer game character, he raises questions about representation of identity, the body and physical space in both virtual
and non-virtual realities, closely linked to critical ideas of irrealism
and simulacra.
His video and live works are interconnected, however, while his videos focus on the extreme and exaggerated, his presence on the stage is a more modest physicality. His virtual
world allows for one’s desires to be realized within the realms of the “game,” where as on stage, Bernstrup’s presence limits the viewer to his style and specificities. His external appearance of fetish and cross-dressing
, including buckles and skin-tight rubber, is tame compared to transgressions of the individual.
In 1995 Bernstrup worked in close collaboration with artist Palle Torsson, receiving international recognition as among the first visual artists to use computer games in their art practice. Their project Museum Meltdown consisted of a series of site specific computer game installations in European art museums. Using the graphics engine of existing video games such as Doom, Duke Nukem 3D
, Quake
and Half-Life they transformed the museum architecture into violent first-person shooter
games, allowing the museum visitor to wander around a virtual
version of the museum killing people and blowing up masterpieces. Torsson and Bernstrup's early video game-based projects and game representations of museums have subsequently been followed up by other by artists such as Florian Muser & Imre Osswald, Felix Stephan Huber (Germany), Feng Mengbo (China) and Kolkoz (France).
Bernstrup has continued working with game environments, reconstructing existing urban spaces such as Berlin
's Potsdamer Platz
and Paris' La Défense
. Focusing on the artificial quality of surfaces, he linked these virtual spaces to his digital alter ego and music both in animated videos and in live performances. Several of his songs from videos and performances have been released by museums, galleries art institutions on CD or vinyl. As a recording artist Bernstrup is also known for his close collaboration and electronic compositions for Swedish video artist Annika Larsson
.
Video clip
Video clips are short clips of video, usually part of a longer recording. The term is also more loosely used to mean any short video less than the length of a traditional television program.- On the Internet :...
, interactive works, live performances and electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
. He received an MFA
Master of Fine Arts
A Master of Fine Arts is a graduate degree typically requiring 2–3 years of postgraduate study beyond the bachelor's degree , although the term of study will vary by country or by university. The MFA is usually awarded in visual arts, creative writing, filmmaking, dance, or theatre/performing arts...
from Royal College University of Fine Arts Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
in 1998, where he also met up with artist colleague Palle Torsson
Palle Torsson
Palle Torsson is a contemporary artist working with videos, interactive works, live video games and performance...
.
Work
Tobias Bernstrup belongs to a group of visual artists who produce music and perform it, and who consider this process as part of their practice as visual artists. Using the visual language of pop culture, video games, sci-fi, classicismClassicism
Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for classical antiquity, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. The art of classicism typically seeks to be formal and restrained: of the Discobolus Sir Kenneth Clark observed, "if we object to his restraint...
and gothic
Gothic fashion
Gothic fashion is a clothing style worn by members of the Goth subculture; a dark, sometimes morbid, eroticized fashion and style of dress. Typical Gothic fashion includes dyed black hair, black lips and black clothes. Both male and female goths wear dark eyeliner and dark fingernails. Styles are...
noir
Noir
Noir is the French word for black. It may refer to:- People :* Noir , Danish Dj & Producer. Owner of Noir Music...
, he has created a stage persona with gender-crossing live performances dressed in elaborate costumes of shiny rubber and heavy make up. In videos and animations often inhabited by his digital alter ego/Avatar
Avatar
In Hinduism, an avatar is a deliberate descent of a deity to earth, or a descent of the Supreme Being and is mostly translated into English as "incarnation," but more accurately as "appearance" or "manifestation"....
and in live performances where the artist dresses as a computer game character, he raises questions about representation of identity, the body and physical space in both virtual
Virtual
The term virtual is a concept applied in many fields with somewhat differing connotations, and also, differing denotations.The term has been defined in philosophy as "that which is not real" but may display the salient qualities of the real....
and non-virtual realities, closely linked to critical ideas of irrealism
Irrealism (the arts)
Irrealism is a term that has been used by various writers in the fields of philosophy, literature, and art to denote specific modes of unreality and/or the problems in concretely defining reality. While in philosophy the term specifically refers to a position put forward by the American...
and simulacra.
His video and live works are interconnected, however, while his videos focus on the extreme and exaggerated, his presence on the stage is a more modest physicality. His virtual
Virtual
The term virtual is a concept applied in many fields with somewhat differing connotations, and also, differing denotations.The term has been defined in philosophy as "that which is not real" but may display the salient qualities of the real....
world allows for one’s desires to be realized within the realms of the “game,” where as on stage, Bernstrup’s presence limits the viewer to his style and specificities. His external appearance of fetish and cross-dressing
Cross-dressing
Cross-dressing is the wearing of clothing and other accoutrement commonly associated with a gender within a particular society that is seen as different than the one usually presented by the dresser...
, including buckles and skin-tight rubber, is tame compared to transgressions of the individual.
In 1995 Bernstrup worked in close collaboration with artist Palle Torsson, receiving international recognition as among the first visual artists to use computer games in their art practice. Their project Museum Meltdown consisted of a series of site specific computer game installations in European art museums. Using the graphics engine of existing video games such as Doom, Duke Nukem 3D
Duke Nukem 3D
Duke Nukem 3D is a first-person shooter computer game developed by 3D Realms and published by GT Interactive Software. The full version was released for the PC . It is a sequel to the platform games Duke Nukem and Duke Nukem II published by Apogee...
, Quake
Quake (series)
The Quake series is a line of first-person shooter video games produced by id Software.-Overview:The Quake series is somewhat unusual in that its focus changes frequently; the story of Quake II has nothing to do with Quake, and Quake III Arena has little to do with either of its predecessors...
and Half-Life they transformed the museum architecture into violent first-person shooter
First-person shooter
First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
games, allowing the museum visitor to wander around a virtual
Virtual
The term virtual is a concept applied in many fields with somewhat differing connotations, and also, differing denotations.The term has been defined in philosophy as "that which is not real" but may display the salient qualities of the real....
version of the museum killing people and blowing up masterpieces. Torsson and Bernstrup's early video game-based projects and game representations of museums have subsequently been followed up by other by artists such as Florian Muser & Imre Osswald, Felix Stephan Huber (Germany), Feng Mengbo (China) and Kolkoz (France).
Bernstrup has continued working with game environments, reconstructing existing urban spaces such as Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
's Potsdamer Platz
Potsdamer Platz
Potsdamer Platz is an important public square and traffic intersection in the centre of Berlin, Germany, lying about one kilometre south of the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag , and close to the southeast corner of the Tiergarten park...
and Paris' La Défense
La Défense
La Défense is a major business district of the Paris aire urbaine. With a population of 20,000, it is centered in an orbital motorway straddling the Hauts-de-Seine département municipalities of Nanterre, Courbevoie and Puteaux...
. Focusing on the artificial quality of surfaces, he linked these virtual spaces to his digital alter ego and music both in animated videos and in live performances. Several of his songs from videos and performances have been released by museums, galleries art institutions on CD or vinyl. As a recording artist Bernstrup is also known for his close collaboration and electronic compositions for Swedish video artist Annika Larsson
Annika Larsson
Annika Larsson is a contemporary artist living in New York. She received a Master of Fine Arts from the Royal University College of Fine Arts, Stockholm....
.
Exhibitions
- (1995) Museum Meltdown I http://www.bernstrup.com/meltdown/old/arken.html computer game, Arken Museum of Modern ArtArken Museum of Modern ArtARKEN Museum of Modern Art is a private non-for-profit charity, state authorized, contemporary art museum near Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark. The museum was conceived and created by Copenhagen County.-Museum:...
(with Palle Torsson) - (1997) Museum Meltdown II http://www.bernstrup.com/meltdown/old/vilnius.html computer game, Contemporary Art Centre of VilniusVilniusVilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
, (with Palle Torsson) - (1999) Museum Meltdown III http://www.bernstrup.com/meltdown/main.html computer game, Moderna MuseetModerna MuseetModerna museet, the Museum of Modern Art, Stockholm, Sweden, is a state museum located on the island of Skeppsholmen in central Stockholm, that was first opened in 1958. Its first manager was Pontus Hultén...
, StockholmStockholmStockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
(with Palle Torsson) - (2001) Potsdamer Platz (Unreal Edit), computer game, Biennale De Lyon 2001
- (2002) Nekropolis, computer game, Palais de Tokyo
- (2004) XSEED 4000 :de:X-Seed 4000, computer game
- (2009) performance ASFR at Madre Museum of Contemporary Art, Naples, June 26th 2009 / MADRE
Discography
- (1997) Heat of the Night, CD-R, rare ed. of 25
- (1998) Images Of Love, CD-R, rare ed. of 100
- (2002) Re-Animate Me, CD, published by Färgfabriken, Stockholm, FF-001
- (2002) 27, 12" vinyl maxi single, Tonight Records, TR-001
- (2002) 27 - collector's edition, 12" vinyl, rare ed. of 100
- (2003) Ventisette, 12" vinyl maxi single, Galeria Sogospatty/Tonight Records, TR-002
- (2002) Ventisette - collector's edition, 12" vinyl, rare ed. of 100
- (2005) SUV, mp3 single, Tonight Records,TR-003
- (2005) Killing Spree, CD, published by KunsthalleKunsthalleKunsthalle is, generally, in German speaking regions a term for a facility mounting temporary art exhibitions. Some are run or supported by a local Kunstverein, an art association of local collectors and artists...
Nürnberg/Tonight Records, TR-004