PAULPFEIFFER(b. 1966)The Long Count (I Shook Up The World).Signed "Paul Pfeiffer" on DVD. Video installation: DVD metal armature, LCD monitor.11 ¼ x 8 x 38 in. (28.6 x 20.3 x 96.5 cm).Executed in 2000.This work is from an edition of six plus one artist's proof.Provenance
The Project, New YorkExhibited
Kunsthaus Zurich, November 17, 2000-January 21, 2001 and Hamburger Kunsthalle, February 16-May 6, 2001, Hypermental: Rampant Reality 1950-2000 From Salvador Dali To Jeff Koons, p. 130 (another example exhibited; details illustrated);
New York, The Project, Paul Pfeiffer, November 19, 2000-January 7, 2001 (another example exhibited);
Kunsthaus Glarus, Paul Pfeiffer, April 7-June 10, 2001 (another example exhibited);
Los Angeles, UCLA Hammer Museum, Paul Pfeiffer, August 29-October 28, 2001 (another example exhibited);
Gent, S.M.A.K., Casino 2001, October 27, 2001-January 13, 2002 (another example exhibited);
New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, The Contemporary Series: Paul Pfeiffer, December 13, 2001-February 24, 2002 (another example exhibited);
Miami, The Moore Space, December 5-February 28, 2003 and San Juan, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, Interplay (another example exhibited);
Cambridge, MIT Visual Arts Center, February 6-April 6, 2003 and Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, May 3-August 31, 2003, Paul Pfeiffer, p. 17 (another example exhibited; illustrated);
Minneapolis, Walker Art Center, The Squared Circle: Boxing In Contemporary Art, July 12-October 12, 2003 (another example exhibited);
ZKM, Fast Forward: Media Art/Sammlung Goetz, October 11, 2003-February 29, 2004 (another example exhibited);
Dusseldorf, K20 K21 Kunstsammlung Nordheim-Westfalen, Paul Pfeiffer, June 12-October 17, 2004, n.p. (another example exhibited; illustrated);
Miami, Museum of Contemporary Art, December 13, 2004-January 30, 2005 and Milwaukee Art Museum, June 26-September 11, 2005, Cut/Film As Object, (another example exhibited);
Cambridge, MIT, List Visual Art Center, Boston Cyber Arts Festival, April 25-May 6, 2005 (another example exhibited)Literature
B. Curiger, Hypermental: Rampant Reality 1950-2000 From Salvador Dali To Jeff Koons, Ostfildern-Ruit 2000, p. 130 (details illustrated);
T. Griffin, "Reviews-Technical Knockout", Timeout New York, Issue No. 275, December 28, 2000-January 4, 2001;
C. Carr, "On the Edge- Icon Remix: Paul Pfeiffer sees the Art Historical Vista From the Bates Motel", The Village Voice, November 29-December 5, 2000;
H.R. Reust, "Kunsthaus Zurich-'Hypermental"-Reviews, Artforum, Summer 2001;
New York Times, Art In Review, Paul Pfeiffer, p. E41 (detail illustrated);
R. Richard, "Paul Pfeiffer-artist wins Whitney's Bucksbaum Award, exhibition- Brief Article", Artforum, March 2001;
M. Gioni, "New York Cut Up," Flash Art, February 2001, p. 67 (detail illustrated);
H. Halle, "Prize Fighter: Paul Pfeiffer's Latest Work in New Media Proves He's a Contender", Timeout New York, January 10-17, 2002, pp. 60-61 (illustrated);
S. Basilico and V. Libermann, Paul Pfeiffer, Ostfildern-Ruit 2004, n.p. (illustrated)Paul Pfeiffer has emerged at the forefront of his field pushing the boundaries of technology and creating works that not only entertain on the aesthetic level but also on the conceptual level; forcing the audience to question the very basis of what they have come to consider reality. A reality that is increasingly subject to and dictated by the mass media. He plays upon and exploits images and concepts that have pervaded and deeply penetrated general society's collective unconscious.

In his works he shifts the focus of his chosen appropriated image from the primary subject to secondary elements such as the background. In doing so, Pfeiffer also manages to shift the focus of the viewer to the viewer and their presence in the work. One becomes aware of the fact that he has effectively brought them into the fold; transforming them into an actual element of the artwork. "For Pfeiffer, alongside the question of the observer and the observed in the process of perception, there stands the question of identity, its origin and its reconstruction in a world defined by mass media". As a result, the viewer stands outside, oscillating between differing levels of reality (man-made and natural) as well as between rational perception and emotional sensation (S. Basilico and V. Liebermann, Paul Pfeiffer, Ostfildern-Ruit 2004, p. 18).

The present lot The Long Count (I Shook Up the World) depicts the legendary bout between two internationally renowned pugilists, Sonny Liston and Cassius Clay. The scene is one of the title match between the two juggernauts that occurred in Miami in 1964. It was with this fight that Cassius clay firmly cemented his position in the boxing world. Defeating Liston and subsequently declaring himself "King of the World," Cassius Clay would shortly thereafter embrace the teachings of Islam and from then on be referred by the name that the public recognizes most, Mohammed Ali. In the film Pfeiffer, has digitally erased the two fighters leaving behind only the ghostly specters of their forms. One can see their 'corner men' scurrying around and the audience cheering for their favorites. The removal of the central figures in the scene does not detract from the overall tone of the film. In fact, it accomplishes the opposite. The digital excision actually heightens ones anticipation and augments the anxiety that one would feel during a boxing match.

The absences created by Pfeiffer and employed in his works morph the familiar images into nearly unrecognizable scenes by eradicating all that is familiar and recognizable from an image that is already in the viewers' collective "image-stores". Liebermann explains," the many absences that Pfeiffer incorporates into his works make the pictures look as though one had never seen them before. They help the eye to come out of the center of the picture, and perceive the picture in its perfect entirety" (ibid, p. 19).