Ruhrtriennale - Euphoria

Euphoria, Julian Rosefeldt | © Katja Illner, Ruhrtriennale

»Euphoria« is the long-awaited, new, multi-disciplinary, spatial film installation by the video artist and film-maker Julian Rosefeldt, who wowed Ruhrtriennale audiences in 2016 with »Manifesto«.

About the production

His new work is a tour de force that runs through the history of economic theory. The project consists of original texts from famous economists, writers, philosophers and poets, and traces the 2,000-year history of human greed. He translates the complex history of the development of our neoliberal market economy into an accessible visual language through the combination of historical texts with familiar scenic representations, in which actors like Giancarlo Esposito and Virginia Newcomb appear as contemporary characters and Cate Blanchett provides the voice for a talking, singing tiger. The project pursues the question of why capitalism appears, until now, to have no alternative and why it remains irresistible, even to people who are aware of its destructive nature, as a filmic re-enactment of both pro-capitalist and capitalist-critical positions.

The music in Euphoria was composed by the Canadian Samy Moussa. The British composer Cassie Kinoshi has also contributed one chapter. The music component of the project was created in collaboration with the Brooklyn Youth Chorus and five of the most famous jazz percussionists of our time – Terri Lyne Carrington, Steve Gadd, Antonio Sanchez, Eric Harland and Yissy García.

Commissioned and produced by Park Avenue Armory.
Co-commissioned by Ruhrtriennale, Holland Festival and Rising Melbourne, in Association with Weltkulturerbe Völklinger Hütte.