Christian Jankowski (b. 1968) is an artist from Berlin who is concerned with the triangular tension of 'artist - work - audience'. He expresses his concern in playful, humorous work that comments on the contemporary world of art. Like the social world, it too is ruled by entertainment. Jankowski constantly juggles with standards of reality. In three of his videos he works out a strategy to personally infiltrate television, a populist medium which is alien to art. In 'Telemistica' he telephones television fortune-tellers, a popular phenomenon in Italy, to have his future predicted during a live television broadcast. 'The Holy Artwork' centres on collaboration with a television evangelist. Janowski allows the concept of what in his view could be the perfect contemporary work of art, to be expressed in the words of the priest who invites him to come and prostrate himself before the pulpit during the programme. In 'Talk Athens' he is the guest on a popular Greek talk show dedicated to his own work and hosted by the local Goedele Liekens. The artist, who understands no Greek, remains obstinately silent and assumes different attitudes on the television stage. In the roles he plays he sees art as an area that allows free play, and comprises a potential transformation. Consequently, his work is situated on various boundaries, such as the one that separates 'high' and 'low' art.
'Telemistica' . Video, colour, spoken Italian, English subtitles, 22 min., 1999
'The Holy Artwork'. Video, colour, spoken English, no subtitles, 16 min., 2001
'Talk Athens'. Video, colour, spoken Greek, English subtitles, 24 min., 2003