Susanne Weirich: Media art grant of the State of NRW 2008

Angels in Chains: Presentation of the new 3-channel video installation (2008/09) dealing with the three Manson family members who in 1969 brutally killed, at Charles Manson's instruction, seven people, among them Sharon Tate, wife of Roman Polanski. On their way to court, the three murderesses presented themselves as a cheerful girl band and sang a song by Charles Manson. In the installation the murderesses become blurred with the actresses of the TV series "Three Angels for Charly".

The installation cites a minimal stage setup for three singers: two microphone stands (one has toppled over in the background), two speakers and an amplifier. As video projectors, the stage lights project videos onto circular panels showing the alternating faces of the singers in crystal balls. They sing in lip-sync the song “Never Say Never To Always” by Charles Manson.

The work was initially inspired by a press photo depicting three young women who had been involved in the Tate-LaBianca Murders. On their way to court, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie van Houten presented themselves as a cheerful girl band and sang a song by Charles Manson. The singers in the videos are actresses who impersonate the murderers at two different points in time: 1969 when they were arrested and 40 years later. These two versions of the real murderers are combined with further characters: three secret agents from the 70s TV show “Charlie’s Angels” and the stars of the show’s Hollywood remake in 2000/03. All these characters have cameo-appearances in the stories of the other characters.

In each of these stories, fame and popular myth are combined in a mass media setting with violence and crime. The installation links together media imagery and constructs. One Hollywood image is superimposed by another. The singers, who in contemporary society are only present through their appearances in youtube, sing as captives of a mass-media heaven.

Material: 3 Video Projectors / 3 round projection panels 70 cm each  / Amplifier - Audio Visual Laboratories Inc, Stereo Travler III, 1960s USA, 2 speakers, 3 CF-card players
Shown at: 2009 Hamburger Kunsthalle / 2010 Villa Merkel, Esslingen

Cast (1969/2009): Susan Atkins: Jessica Páez / Lore Wilkening/. Patricia Krenwinkel: Viktoria Bisco / Traute Hochwald. Leslie van Houten: Isabelle Höpfner / Christine Jansen
Crew: Concept/Director: Susanne Weirich, Camera: Jakobine Motz, Editor: Janine Dauterich, Visual Effects: Alexeji Tschernyi, Casting: Johannes Buchholz, Sascha Kölzow, Make-up: Stefanie Schädlich, Wardrobe: Wilma Renfordt, Music: Charles Manson‚ Never Say Never To Always’, Props: Silvio Naumann, Stage technology: Tobias Boner, Dirk Göken, Christian Möltner, Advice: Robert Bramkamp.
Production: BramkampWeirich GbR on behalf of the Hamburger Kunsthalle and with the kind support of Media Art Grant of the State of NRW 2008.


Susanne Weirich
is based in Berlin. Her interdisciplinary, multimedia installations explore structures of ordering and the narrative interaction of reality and fiction in everyday life and virtual worlds. She studied literature and fine art in Munster and has exhibited on numerous occasions both at home and abroad in group and solo shows e.g.in “The XX. Century” at the National Gallery Berlin, “Spielräume” at Wilhelm-Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg, and “You won’t feel a thing” at Wyspa Institute of Art, Gdansk. In 1999 the Kunsthaus Zurich showed a “Small Retrospective” of her installation pieces. Since 1991 the artist has taught at various institutions, e.g. the Technical University Berlin and, in 1995/96, the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, USA. From 2000–2007 she was a professor at the University of Fine Arts in Hamburg. In 2008/09 she was lecturing as guest professor at the Kunsthochschule Berlin Weißensee. She received grants, among others, from the Edith Russ Site for Media Art in Oldenburg in 2001 and from the Kulturstiftung des Bundes (2004/05), and awards such as the 2008 Media Art Grant by the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. She has also been awarded various commissions to conceive and carry out works, amongst others for Siemens AG in Nuremberg, the City of Berlin, the City of Hamburg, and the Stanford University Berlin Campus. Susanne Weirich’s work is represented in several important collections such as the Berlinische Galerie, the Galerie der Gegenwart in the Kunsthalle Hamburg, and the Gallery for Contemporary Art in Leipzig.

For further and most recent details, please consult the artist’s website www.susanneweirich.com

Susanne Weirich is the recipent of the media art grant of the State of Nordrhein-Westfalia 2008. Comprehensive information about the grant of the State of Nordrhein-Westfalia for media artists from NRW can be found at http://www.hmkv.de/dyn/d_institution_stipendium/ (German) http://www.hmkv.de/dyn/e_institution_grant/ (English)