Kevin Frech
FOUNDATION AND EMPIRE, 2018
HD Video, color, two-channel mono sound, 3:00
On loan from the Artist
On view in the E. Craig Wall, Jr. Academic Center from October 4 – November 21st, 2020.
Please note: All buildings on campus, including the Wall Center, are only open to Davidson students, faculty, and staff due to the pandemic. We are planning to re-screen videos at a later date when the campus opens to the community! Sign up for our mailing list to stay in the loop.
FOUNDATION AND EMPIRE captures the melting process of an ice block, in which is frozen $1,000, through time lapse videography. The original version is accompanied by a unique soundscape that combines Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World” and Pink Floyd’s “Money”. The artist provides a visual demonstration of the effect of capitalism on our current climate, specifically at the poles. As the ice begins to melt, the two subjects enter into dialogue, highlighting a relationship between both the physical objects and their significance in a larger conversation. The starting frame is completely covered by the block of ice, which slowly shrinks in size to allow the stacked bills to become visible. There is movement, a dynamic shift between the two, as the bills take on a larger role in the melting process; The weight of the money begins to lean over the ice block until eventually the stacked bills are all that remain.
Kevin Frech is an artist working primarily within video installations, film-making, and multimedia and he is the founder and artistic director of Logical Chaos Production, a film production company based in New York City. Mr. Frech received his BFA while studying at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and continued on to receive a Masters in Filmmaking from the Tisch School of Fine Arts, at New York University. Frech’s work explores contradictions existent in our contemporary society and attempts to make his viewers care about the issues proposed through his art. Frech’s work will often include visual tropes from contemporary culture to aid in a visual stimulation typically captured through time lapse videography. His work has been included in exhibitions and shows at the Barrett Art Center, New York, Arte Laguna, Italy, Storefront Media Gallery, Seattle, and now Davidson College.
Artist Statement: My work examines the contradictions of contemporary society, where the rise of technology offers the promise of ease, luxury,and connection, yet it also complicates our lives, wastes resources, and alienates us from each other. I also think a lot about currency. Not merely in the sense of “money,” but also in the larger concepts of exchange and acceptance. What do we as people value today? And how do we assign those values? Our shared human commonality informs the central themes of my work. Even when discussing divisive topics such as global warming or the exploitation of labor, my questions are framed by how humans perceive these issues, and whether we can be made to sufficiently care. I’d like to believe that we can. The performance-based videos I make typically subvert visual tropes found in contemporary culture such as commercials, documentaries and narrative films by using unconventional performances with props such as money, food, and ice. Time-lapse is another way to induce “performances” from inanimate objects.”
Learn more about Kevin Frech as an artist and his work as the director of Logical Chaos Productions.