Christian Jankowski: Everything Fell Together

This survey of Christian Jankowski’s career in film, video, photography and installation is the first to track his progress from 1992 to 2005. Over that time, Jankowski has come to the fore with a circular method of creation in which the very process of making a video, film or installation becomes the content of the work. His interest in studying the relationships and boundaries between fiction and documentary, art and commerce, art and the public and art and popular culture has brought him into collaboration with children, magicians, customs officials, artists, therapists, psychics and television preachers, giving them what seems to be creative responsibility, but quietly retaining the framing and, of course, the last word. Jankowski’s subtly funny and decidedly engaging critique of the nature of contemporary art production makes him one of the most thought-provoking image makers working today. The exhibition upon which this book is based was highlighted by Artforum as one of the top shows not to miss, worldwide. A 200-page catalog with essays by Jeff Fleming, acting director of the Des Moines Art Center; Jordan Kantor, assistant curator, department of drawings, The Museum of Modern Art; Norman M. Klein, professor, California Institute of the Arts, Los Angeles; and Bruce Wagner, author and director. These are supplemented with interviews by Bill Arning, curator of the MIT List Visual Arts Center, and the Brothers Strause, color reproductions, and the artist’s biography and video/film history.