The Ship of Fools
Jérôme Chazeix
The nave of fools
Video installation, 2021
The starting point of his work is the book “Das Narrenschiff” (The Ship of Fools) written by Sebastian Brant in 1494 – the most widely read book in the German-speaking world
at the time. In a vast installation of fabric, music and performance, the artist transforms a boat – in the image of the book – into a satirical allegory of the human condition and a metaphor for escape from an immanent crisis.
Sound design :Lori E. Allen
Textiles and veils : Jérôme Chazeix
Performers : Ashley, Christian, Eva, Kai, Lori, Marc
Jérôme Chazeix (Franco-German) was born in France in 1976 and has lived and worked in Berlin since 2000. Between 1994 and 2002 he studied at the faculty of visual arts of the Jean Monnet University of Saint-Etienne and wrote a thesis on total works of art based on his own praxis. Between 1995 and 2000 he continued his studies at the École des Beaux-Arts de Saint-Etienne where he obtained his DNSAP diploma. Between 2000 and 2004 he was a “Meisterschüler” (post-graduate) with Katharina Grosse at the Berlin School of Fine Arts Weissensee.
Jérôme Chazeix builds complex installations that form hybrid parallel worlds. He creates multimedia installations that he describes as “total objects”. His works are theatrical installations, stages for the public. His work is presented internationally, for example in the Lagos Biennale 2 (2019) and the Bienniale Yango in Kinshasa (2022). His last solo exhibitions were in Neu Deli Leipzig, Fabrikraum Vienna, Label201 Rome (IT), and Galerie Herold, Bremen.