Michael Najjar
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Michael Najjar is a German visual artist. He was born on 31 October 1966 in Landau, Germany. Since 1988, he has lived and worked in Berlin.
Contents
Life and education
Born in 1966 Landau, Germany, Najjar attented the bildo Academy of Arts in Berlin from 1988 – 1993, where he was trained intensively in conceptional and interdisciplinary art practices.[1] During this time he got in touch with media philosophers such as Vilém Flusser, Paul Virilio and Jean Baudrillard, which have had a strong influence on his later work. The marked global outlook shown in his art is colored by his life and work in Brazil, Cuba, Spain, England, Japan and the USA. Najjar currently works on a new series entitled “outer space“, which is dedicated to the latest developments in space technologies. He is one of Virgin Galactic´s Pioneer Astronauts and will be the first artist in space.[2]
Work
Technological progress has accelerated to the point that the future is happening to us far faster than we could ever have anticipated. Michael Najjar belongs to the contemporary artistic vanguard taking a critical look at the technological forces shaping the 21st century. In his photo and video works Najjar approaches art with a interdisciplinary mindset, transmuting the fields of science, art, and technology into visions and utopias of future social structures emerging under the impact of cutting-edge technologies.[3] In his considered approach to the means and possibilities of photography, Najjar's conceptual work magnifies and re-examines the potential of the photographic image by a constant reconstruction of time and space using a wide range of techniques in thematically focused series. His pictorial language of form and content guides the view into a complex construction of simulated reality.[4] Along this, the performative aspect of his artistic practice has shifted more into focus, since he has decided to become an astronaut and fly into space on board a new spaceship. He now uses his own body for performative action putting himself in highly complex technical environments.[5]
netropolis
Michael Najjar's work series "netropolis" (2003 - 2006) is an exploration of the way global cities will develop in the future. Najjar travelled around the globe and climbed – often evading the security guards - the highest towers of twelve megacities. His panoramic view transforms the reality of urban spatial structure into landscape. The digital fusion of panoramic views taken from different angles transforms the landscape into a woven fabric of relationships. The work shows the endless ocean of information, an all pervasive network. A compression of space and time evoking intense and constantly growing global interconnectivity.
high altitude
For “high altitude“ (2008 - 2010) Michael Najjar climbed Mount Aconcagua whose 6,962 meters (22,841 feet) make it the highest mountain on the planet outside of Asia. In the Andes Najjar photographed mountain ridges whose petrified zigzag curves served him as a representation of the monumentality of financial markets.[6] He patterned the shots he took on the expedition rigorously on the fluctuations of international stock exchange indices.[7] What he shows are the ups and downs of the markets, and how market reality and simulation are so intertwined as to be almost indistinguishable. What we see are the movements of the tectonic plates of the global economy over the past twenty to thirty years in whose course new peaks are thrown up and earthquakes and erosion are inevitable. Najjar shows the sublime in an age when information technology has become all-powerful.[8]
outer space
Michael Najjar's "outer space" work series deals with the latest developments in space exploration and the way they will shape our future life on Earth, in Earth’s near orbit and on other planets.[9] By leaving our home and flying to the moon or other planets, we change our understanding of two of the most fundamental questions confronting humankind – who we are and where we come from. The cultural dimension represented by emergent cutting-edge space technologies is very much at the center of Najjars´s work – in terms of the deeper knowledge these new technologies will impart about the universe, their impact on space travel, and the way they will influence and shape our lives and work on Earth.[10] This ongoing series started in 2011 with the final launch of the American Space Shuttle Atlantis[11] and currently comprises 24 photographic artworks and 4 video works. The artist has traveled to the world´s most important spaceports like the Kennedy Space Center, Baikonour Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and the Guiana Space Centre near Kourou in French Guiana. He has met with numerous scientists, engineers and astronauts, and visited space laboratories around the globe constructing new spacecrafts, satellites and telescopes. He traveled to the Atacama Desert in Chile to photograph the world´s most powerful telescopes located at sites across high altitude plateaus in the Andes. His collaboration with leading scientists and space agencies has given him privileged access to locations which are usually unknown to and unseen by the public. The present series blends documentary and fictive scenarios to create visionary enactments of current and future space exploration.
One essential hallmark of Najjar’s work is the way it is deeply informed by an experiential hands-on approach. The intimate experience of “living through” situations which provide the leitmotifs of his art is vital to the artist.[12] This performative aspect has also become a fundamental part of Najjar´s work process and will culminate in the artist´s own flight into space. As one of the pioneer astronauts of Virgin Galactic Virgin Galactic, Michael Najjar will be embarking on SpaceShipTwo on one of its future spaceflights where he will be the first artist to travel in space.[13]
To prepare for this flight Najjar is conducting an intensive and ongoing astronaut training program at Star City (GCTC), Russia, the German Space Center (DLR - Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt) in Cologne and the National AeroSpace Training And Research Center (NASTAR) in the USA. Defying physical limits, the artist puts his body through a grueling series of training sessions including a stratospheric flight in a MiG-29 jet fighter, zero gravity flights, centrifugal spins, underwater space-walk training in a heavy astronaut suit, and a HALO Jump from an altitude of 10,000m: situations of extremities which he captures on camera to investigate his own physical and mental responses and exemplify them in his works.[14]
The series also includes an assembly of contemporary visions of future life and work in space. Inherent in the actual artworks, these visions are commissioned by the artist and articulated in a series of "vision statements" written by leading figures in space exploration, science, architecture and philosophy including Buzz Aldrin, Richard Branson, Michael Lopez-Alegria, Anousheh Ansari, Norman Foster, and Stephen Hawking.[15]
Works from the “outer space” series have been exhibited internationally in numerous galleries and museums. In 2014, DISTANZ Verlag, Berlin, published a comprehensive book on the series.
Selected exhibitions
2015
- Museo Es Baluard, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
- ZKM | Museum of Contemporary Art, Karlsruhe, Germany
- Kunstverein Oldenburg, Germany
2014
- Multimedia Art Museum Moscow, Russia
- Zacheta National Gallery of Art Warsaw, Poland
- Fotoverhalen, Gemeentemuseum The Hague, The Netherlands
- Laboral Centro de Arte y Creación Industrial, Gijón, Spain
2013
- Somerset House, London, UK
- Borusan Contemporary, Istanbul, Turkey
2012
- Ballroom Marfa, Marfa, USA
- Salone degli Incanti, ex Pescheria, Trieste, Italy
- Centro de Arte Alcobendas, Madrid, Spain
2011
- ZKM | Museum of Contemporary Art, Karlsruhe, Germany
- Museum Deichtorhallen, Sammlung Falckenberg, Hamburg, Germany
- Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, Germany
- Art Stations Foundation, Poznan, Poland
- CAC Málaga, Spain
2010
- CAC Málaga, Spain
- Biennial for Art and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
- TEA - Tenerife Espacio de las Artes, Teneriffa, Spain
2009
- Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, USA
- New Media Art Institute, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Leopold Hösch Museum, Düren, Germany
- 5. Darmstädter Tage der Fotografie, Darmstadt, Germany
2008
- GEM Museum of Contemporary Art / Fotomuseum Den Haag
- Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China
- Museo Es Baluard, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
- Museum of Contemporary Art, Birmingham, UK
2007
- FORMA_Centro_Internazionale_di_Fotografia, Mailand, Italy
- Kunstverein Heidelberg, Germany
- Museum Kunstwerk, Stuttgart, Germany
2006
- Cities, architecture and society, Venice Biennial - 10th international architecture exhibition, Italy
- 9. Biennale Havanna, Cuba
- Museo DA2 Domus Artium 2002, Salamanca, Spain
- Centre pour l'Image Contemporaine, Genf, Switzerland
- Edith-Russ-Haus für Medienkunst, Oldenburg, Germany
2005
- Auswärtiges Amt, Berlin, Germany
- Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, Germany
- National Museum of Science, Thaipeh, Taiwan
- Convergence Biennale, Peking, China
2004
- Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain
- Science Museum, London, UK
- Photokina, Köln, Germany
2003
- Deichtorhallen, Internationales Haus der Photographie, Hamburg, Germany
- Willy-Brandt-Haus, Berlin, Germany
- Museum Traphold, Kolding, Denmark
2002
- Kunsthalle Hamburg, Galerie der Gegenwart, Hamburg, Germany
- Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, Germany
2000
- Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Forum Fotografie, Hamburg, Germany
1999
- Museum Ludwig, Köln, Germany
1998
- Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Forum Fotografie, Hamburg, Germany
Work series
- outer space, 2011 -
- f1, 2011
- high altitude, 2008–2010
- bionic angel, 2006–2008
- netropolis, 2003–2006
- no memory access, 2001–2005
- information and apocalypse, 2003
- end of sex.as we know it., 2002
- schnittbilder, 2001
- nexus project part I, 1999–2000
- Japanese style, 1999–2000
- ¡viva fidel! – journey into absurdity, 1997
Books and catalogues
Michael Najjar (ed.). outer space. Distanz Verlag, Germany 2014
Bollmann, Philipp (ed.): "In-Sight - Photographs from the Wemhöner Collection", Kerber Verlag, Bielefeld, Germany, 2012
Najjar, Michael (ed.): "high altitude" Kerber Verlag, Bielefeld, Germany, 2011
Bollmann, Philipp (ed.): “Focus Asia - Einblicke in die Sammlung Wemhöner” Kerber Verlag, Bielefeld, Germany, 2011
Kolczynska, Paulina “Identity, or on a variety of perspectives” in: “Identity - Photographs of the Grazyna Kulczyk Collection” ex. cat., Poznan, Poland, 2011
Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe (ed.): “Portraits in series - a century of photographs” ex. cat., Kerber Verlag, Bielefeld, Germany, 2011
Rau, Bodo (Ed.): “Architektur in der Kunst - Architekturen des Augenblicks” ex. cat., Bahnitz, Germany, 2011
Herschdorfer, Nathalie (ed.): “High altitude - Photography in the mountains” ex. cat., 5 continents editions, Milan, Italy, 2011
Melis, Wim (ed.): “metropolis” Stichting Aurora Borealis, Photo Festival, Groningen, Netherlands, 2011
Klanten, Robert / Ehmann, Sven / Schulze, Floyd (eds.): “Visual storytelling: inspiring a new visual language” Die Gestalten Verlag, Berlin, Germany, 2011
Damian, Angela / Azoulay, Eliabeth / Frioux, Dalibor (eds.): “100.000 years of beauty” Editions Babylone, Paris, France, 2010
Klanten, Robert / Ehmann, Sven / Bourquin, Nicolas (eds.): “data flow 2” Die Gestalten Verlag, Berlin, Germany, 2010
Klanten, Robert / Feireiss, Lukas (eds.): “Beyond architecture. Imaginative buildings and fictional cities” Die Gestalten Verlag, Berlin, Germany, 2009
Kerner, Charlotte (ed.): “next generation” Belz & Gelberg, Weinheim, Germany, 2009
Sasse, Julie (ed.): “Trouble in paradise: examining the discord between nature and society” ex. cat., Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, USA, 2009
Edgar Quadt (ed.): “Artinvestor - Wie man erfolgreich in Kunst investiert” Finanzbuch Verlag, Munich, Germany, 2008
van Sinderen, Wim (ed.): “Augmented realities - Michael Najjar works 1997-2008” ex. cat., GEM - The Hague Museum of Photography Veenman Publishers, Rotterdam, Netherlands, 2008
Miha, Andy (ed.): “Human futures: art in an age of uncertainty” Fact & Liverpool University Press, Liverpool, UK, 2008
Bitforms Gallery / Galería Juan Silió / Najjar, Michael (Ed.): “bionic angel” Berlin, Germany, 2008
Scarpato, Rosario / Piccioni, Monica (eds.): “Map games: dynamics of change” ex. cat., Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China, 2008
Es Baluard, Museu d’Art Modern i Contemporani de Palma (ed.): “en privat1” ex. cat., Museo Es Baluard, Palma, Spain, 2008
Sacks, Steve (ed.): “bitforms gallery” bitforms gallery, New York, USA, 2008
Explorafoto y Fundación Salamanca Ciudad de Cultura (ed.): “Michael Najjar - information and apocalypse” ex. cat., DA2, Domus Artium 2002, Salamanca, Spain, 2007
Ewing, William (ed.): “Face - the new photographic portrait” Thames & Hudson, London, UK, 2006
Herrera, Nelson (ed.): “9th Havana Biennal 2006” ex. cat., Centro de Arte Contemporáneo Wifredo Lam Havana, Cuba, 2006
Sanz, Antonio (ed.): “C on cities” ex. cat., 10. Mostra Internazionale di Architettura La Biennale di Venezia, Italy, 2006
Panera, Javier (ed.): “Mascaradas politicas” Explorafoto - Festival Internacional de Fotografía de Castilla y León. ex. cat., DA2, Domus Artium 2002, Salamanca, Spain, 2006
Himmelsbach, Sabine (ed.): “Sichtbarkeiten” ex. cat., Edith-Ruß-Site for Media Art, Oldenburg, Germany, 2006
Bitforms / Juan Silió / Guy Bärtschi / Najjar, Michael (eds.): “netropolis” Berlin, Germany, 2006
Najjar, Michael (ed.): “japanese style” ex. cat., Federal Foreign Office, Berlin, Germany, 2005
Mellis, Wim (ed.): “traces and omens” Stichting Aurora Borealis, Photo Festival, Groningen, Netherlands, 2005
Szeemann, Harald (ed.): “The beauty of failure / the failure of beauty” ex. cat., Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain, 2004
Kemp, Sandra (ed.): “Future face - image, identity, innovation” Profile books ldt, ex. cat., Science Museum London, London, UK, 2004
bitforms gallery / Najjar, Michael (eds.): “netropolis” Berlin, Germany, 2004
Felix, Zdenek (ed.): “A clear vision. Photographische Werke aus der Sammlung F.C. Gundlach” Hatje Cantz Verlag, ex. cat., International House of Photography Deichtorhallen, Hamburg, Germany, 2003
Goethe-Institut New York, Najjar, Michael (eds.): “Information and Apocalypse” ex. cat., Goethe-Institut New York Berlin, Germany, 2003
Triennale der Photographie Hamburg (ed.): “Reality-Check” ex. cat., 2. Triennale der Photographie, Hamburg, Germany, 2002
Philipp, Gabriele (ed.): “Mythos St.Pauli - Photographien 1967-2002” ex. cat., Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Bönnigheim, Germany, 2002
Klanten, Robert / Peyerl, Andreas (eds.): “Surreality localizer” Die Gestalten Verlag, Berlin, Germany, 1997
References
- ↑ Michael Najjar - outer space, Distanz, Berlin 2014.
- ↑ ART Magazine: Camilla Péus, Michael Najjar - Weltansichten, May 2013
- ↑ Kunstforum International, Globale ZKM Karlsruhe, Issue # 237/2015
- ↑ Kunstforum International, Michael Hübl: In Para-Metaphysischer Trance, Issue 203, September 2010
- ↑ ART Magazine, Camilla Péus: Michael Najjar - Weltansichten, May 2013
- ↑ The New York Times, Michael Najjar. Markets and Mountains, With Dangerous Peaks, 18 April 2010
- ↑ Wallpaper, Michael Najjar. Case Studies, February 2012
- ↑ Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Freddy Langer: Michael Najjar. Von Höhen und Tiefen, 8 March 2012
- ↑ Kunstforum International, Issue 237/2015
- ↑ The Sense of Movement. When Artists Travel, Hantje Cantz, 2015
- ↑ WIRED Magazine Uk, January/February 2016
- ↑ Andreas Beitin: A Question of Perspective, in: Michael Najjar - outer space, Berlin 2014
- ↑ Monopol Spezial, Elke Buhr: Michael Najjar. Die private Weltraumkapsel, Issue 7/2015
- ↑ http://sz-magazin.sueddeutsche.de/texte/anzeigen/41499/All-inklusiv“
- ↑ Michael Najjar - outer space, Distanz, Berlin 2014
