Ulf Aminde (D)

Just imagine: you're shopping in IKEA and suddenly you're asked to take part in a film. This is what happened to more than a hundred customers a little while ago in the IKEA store in Wilrijk, Belgium. That was where the Berlin artist, Ulf Aminde, was on location for two weeks filming 'Welcome Home', a film that will be premiered during this edition of dedonderdagen. In the readymade decors - the student's room, the rustic living room, the designer interior - the customers could improvise at will in specified situations. There was a great sense of willingness among the would-be actors. We see people asleep, cooking, sitting down… 'Welcome Home' is a compilation of fun scenes based around artificiality versus authenticity, man versus the market. IKEA functions as a clearly recognizable setting for these scenes and conjures up all sorts of associations and reflections. However, Aminde doesn't make any explicit statements on consumerism and globalization. He finds it more important to simply let the people play and allow us to watch. Ulf Aminde (b. 1969) mainly makes videos. His interest lies in the socio-emotional mechanisms of the capitalistic society. Instead of recording he opts for the participation of people and/or groups with a social stigma. It's often people who don't want to or simply won't be part of the economic prosperity: alcoholics, the homeless, punks... His installation with sequences of buskers holding a single note is being exhibited at this very moment at the Biennale in Berlin.