Artist Bio Images Video Related Events

12 Nov 2018–30 Nov 2018

Franziska Pierwoss

  • Project Location
  • Goethe Pop Up Minneapolis
  • "Goethe in the Skyways"
  • City Center, skyway level (next to Cardigan Donuts)
  • 40 South 7th Street, Suite 208
  • Minneapolis, MN 55402
  • Info

The Art of the Deal

The Art of the Deal was filmed over the holidays in November 2018 and a rough cut of the first episode was presented at the Goethe Pop Up space followed by a discussion with the artist and some of the featured family members in November 2018. After many months of post-production, four episodes were presented at the Goethe Pop Up Minneapolis in September 2019.

Inspired by reality TV, The Art of the Deal stars three Minnesotan families who openly discuss family politics during the holiday season.

40 years after its birth, reality TV seems to have become an integral part of people’s life, no matter which country or continent, whether in the US, in Germany, or elsewhere. And more than a decade of Keeping up with the Kardashians has certainly shaped the way realities are being performed all over the world.

Following a docu-style aesthetic, The Art of the Deal depicts the private sphere of three families that will serve as a platform to debate and stage questions of individual behavioral patterns but also collective dynamics. During holidays, unlike any other time of the year, the discrepancy between personal expectations and the actual reality of a family gathering frequently results in some kind of a drama.

Franziska Pierwoss collaborated with three families that had no prior experience with TV series production in order to test their very realities as potential footage for broadcast.

Pivotal, universally valid questions emerged in this process. How do families communicate today? What verbal and body language is at play? How does the public sphere of politics interfere with the private sphere of family? Who speaks at the table and who talks behind someone’s back and instead at the camera?

After the bingewatching week in September 2019, the episodes will be available on the Goethe in the Skyways website.

  • Info

The Art of the Deal

The Art of the Deal was filmed over the holidays in November 2018 and a rough cut of the first episode was presented at the Goethe Pop Up space followed by a discussion with the artist and some of the featured family members in November 2018. After many months of post-production, four episodes were presented at the Goethe Pop Up Minneapolis in September 2019.

Inspired by reality TV, The Art of the Deal stars three Minnesotan families who openly discuss family politics during the holiday season.

40 years after its birth, reality TV seems to have become an integral part of people’s life, no matter which country or continent, whether in the US, in Germany, or elsewhere. And more than a decade of Keeping up with the Kardashians has certainly shaped the way realities are being performed all over the world.

Following a docu-style aesthetic, The Art of the Deal depicts the private sphere of three families that will serve as a platform to debate and stage questions of individual behavioral patterns but also collective dynamics. During holidays, unlike any other time of the year, the discrepancy between personal expectations and the actual reality of a family gathering frequently results in some kind of a drama.

Franziska Pierwoss collaborated with three families that had no prior experience with TV series production in order to test their very realities as potential footage for broadcast.

Pivotal, universally valid questions emerged in this process. How do families communicate today? What verbal and body language is at play? How does the public sphere of politics interfere with the private sphere of family? Who speaks at the table and who talks behind someone’s back and instead at the camera?

After the bingewatching week in September 2019, the episodes will be available on the Goethe in the Skyways website.

Franziska Pierwoss

Franziska Pierwoss (born in Tübingen/Germany) is a Berlin-based performance and installation artist, who also works as an organizer and initiator of various cultural projects. With a strong focus on durational performance and collaborative practices, she develops site-specific installations and creates situations of engagement, in which personal and political boundaries are called into question.

Pierwoss has shown her work at Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof, Eigen+Art Lab, Beirut Art Center and recently at Alserkal Dubai amongst many other places.
Using storytelling as an explorative methodology towards History, Pierwoss has been staging performances related to historical meals since 2014 in collaboration with Sandra Teitge in Mexico City (Galeria OMR & MUAC), in Munich/Germany (Spielart Festival), and as part of the Sharjah Biennial 13 in Beirut/Lebanon.

Related Events

03 Sep–06 Sep
10AM–5PM
screening

The Art of the Deal Binge–Watching
Franziska Pierwoss