Jakup Ferri, in "Save Me, Help Me", 2003, shoots a ten minute single-channel video in which the artist, in close-up, sits casually on his bed surrounded by his portfolio. For the duration of the piece, he describes his art works by showing photographic documentation in his native language.
The artist, akin to a street vendor, has a confrontational relationship with the audience, which is assumed to be made up of curators and collectors. The artist’s motive is simply to sell his art or to be picked up by a curator. At one point he utters “Give me some money! Help me!” By drawing an analogy between the artist and vendor while appropriating the language of marketing, Ferri exposes the infrastructure of the art world.
This work can also be found on the compilation, "Anticipation Room" curated by Chen Tamir. She describes the program as, "A sprinter’s heart-rate can reach maximum even before he or she begins a race. Birds flock south before the onset of winter. The lottery makes profits every week. It is anticipation, rather than reaction, that dictates most of our behaviour. We carry out our lives waiting – for a promotion, for Mr. or Mrs. Right, for peaceful times, for redemption. The hope that circumstances will change has always been our modus operandi and it is on this faith that religion takes hold. We are held in purgatory, perpetual waiting, and are promised that the end will be good to those who persevere. Even in our modern times of instant gratification and immediate results we are left unfulfilled as these gratifications are surrogates for true satisfaction. The artists in this program highlight this paradox and illustrate the unquenchable waiting of our times."
Economy Performance Art
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