JOHN BOCK (b. 1965) UNTITLED suite of 21 sil

A PRIVATE AMERICAN COLLECTION OF CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHY

Provenance
Barbara Gladstone Gallery, NEW YORK

Literature
Schmidt, ed., JOHN BOCK: GRIBBOHM, OSTFILDERN-RUIT, 2001, n.p. (multiple images illustrated and one detail illustrated on the cover)
D. Aaronson, ed., PHOTOGRAPHY TRANSFORMED: THE METROPOLITAN BANK & TRUST COLLECTION, NEW YORK, 2002, p. 57 (two of the 21 works illustrated)

By playing the role of pedagogue, that is equal parts mad-scientist and court jester, John Bock's pedantic methods of promoting and codifying his artistic ideas has resulted in a body of work that is effective on a multitude of levels.

JOHN BOCK HAS TRANSFORMED SCULPTURE INTO THEATRICAL SPACE, CREATING BIZARRE LITTLE HOVELS, CRAMPED, MULTI-LEVEL HIDEAWAYS AND MAZE-LIKE BURROWS INSIDE WHICH HE PERFORMS MANIC NONSENSICAL DRAMAS. VIEWERS HAVE ACCESS TO HIM ONLY INTERMITTENTLY AS HE SLITHERS THROUGH NARROW CHANNELS, HIDES UNDER FLOORS AND CRAWLS OVER THE JERRYBUILT STAGES THAT COMPRISE HIS INSTALLATIONS. IN SOME SHOWS, PARTICULARLY AFTER THE OPENING EVENTS HAVE CONCLUDED, BOCK IS VISIBLE ONLY ON VIDEO MONITORS, HIS RECORDED ANTICS SERVING TO ANIMATE THE ECCENTRIC ARCHITECTURE THAT HAS BEEN LEFT BEHIND AS A SCULPTURAL TRACE OF LIVE ACTION.
Taken from N. Spector in G. Williams, CREAM 3: CONTEMPORARY ART IN CULTURE, 10 CURATORS, 100 CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS, 10 SOURCE ARTISTS, LONDON, 2003, p. 72

John Bock's works take their first inspiration from reality, altering it through magnification and deformation. The elements and ideas composing our daily lives become an infinite parade of clowns, puppets, circus animals and acrobats. The present lot is comprised of 21 silver dye bleach process prints that serve as a visual record of various staged performances. The still photographs possess the same chaotic energy, movement and emotion that the live performances and videos possess. They illustrate the dizzying array of "pseudo-scientific," aesthetic, social and political commentary that seemingly pervade every fiber of Bock's works. One cannot help but draw comparisons of his work to those of Vito Acconci, Paul McCarthy, Mike Kelly, the post-World War II group The Theater of the Absurd as well as to the various happenings of the 1960s and 1970s. In Bock's work we are able to find "…a fanciful, sometimes manic analytical process in which the dogmatic Freudian view of the subconscious is placed under an aesthetic microscope…," the end result being a work that "…provides incredible insight into the motivations that drive us" (ibid.).