PUT YOUR MASK BACK ON by Johann Calderón | Argentina (2022)
“Put your Mask back on” is a 2:40 min minimalistic video art piece about child / human abuse in the times of the p(l)andemic.
The action lies hidden in the background. The mother often admonishes her daughter to put the mask back on. The viewer does not hear this; only the title is representative.
In contrast to this, only the ceiling fan of the house can be seen, which is turned upside down and thus performs a funny dance. The middle part is accompanied by distorted hula music and consequently proceeds with the absurdity of this situation.
During the video, the girl can be heard several times, saying: “There are everywhere dead frogs”.
The mother doesn’t respond to her words, she seems to reject seeing the frogs.
This is an allusion to the second plague in the story of Exodus:
“This is what the great LORD says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. If you refuse to let them go, I will plague your whole country with frogs. The Nile will teem with frogs. They will come up into your palace and your bedroom and onto your bed, into the houses of your officials and on your people, and into your ovens and kneading troughs. The frogs will go up on you and your people and all your officials. — Exodus 8:1–4”
Bio Johann Calderón is a German painter / media designer / video artist.
He studied Visual Communication at the HS Peter Behrens School of Arts in Düsseldorf Germany with the main focus on Fine Arts, Video, Photography & Graphic Design. He lives and works in Córdoba, Argentina.
Pebbles Underground is focused on showcasing and promoting experimental, avant-garde, underground, and no-to-low budget projects by artist-humans from all over the world. Absurd, uncanny, witty, humorous, slow-video – all are welcomed, and loved.
Pebbles Underground is an independent project not funded by any government or corporation, and we intend to keep it that way. Main source of funding is personal donations from humans organizing the project, who are artists themselves, and the main drive of the project is formed by the energy and involvement of the organizers, and the public.
