transcribed: taking the hobbits to isengard (10 hours)

title

Transcribed: Taking the Hobbits to Isengard (10 hours),printer paper, ink, and staples, sourced video, 2018

statement

J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings book trilogy changed the 20th century world by introducing modern fantasy. We found escapism with Middle Earth's hobbits, wizards, and magical rings. Around 50 years later Peter Jackson led us on a dynamic and eye catching cinematic journey in his film trilogy The Lord of the Rings, where we now could visually accompany Frodo on his trek to Mordor. Then in 2005, Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings was remixed by Erwin “Tron” Beekveld with his “They’re Taking the Hobbits to Isengard", which revealed a subtextual layer of the films’ narrative. This was in fact a deconstructive activity focused on the films, not the books. Years later when “They’re Taking the Hobbits to Isengard” had become engrained into The Lord of the Rings’ mythos by becoming a world famous meme, eKolyable created an extended cut with “Taking the Hobbits to Isengard - 10 Hours.” Now, the deconstructive activity had moved three steps away from the original The Lord of the Rings and points to the absurd culture of memes. Mr. Berger’s Transcribed: Taking the Hobbit to Isengard - 10 Hours, introduces another stage in this deconstructive process by circling The Lord of the Rings back into the form of text, however the original narrative is now completely irrelevant.

We have here a transcription of a commentary on a remix of an interpretation for a book trilogy.

“Artist’s intuitive relationship with art history [and pop culture] is now going beyond what we call ‘the art of appropriation.’ which naturally infers an ideology of ownership, and moving towards a culture of the use of forms, a culture of constant activity of signs based on a collective ideal: sharing.” (Nicolas Bourriaud, Postproduction: Culture as Screenplay: How Art Reprograms the World, translated by Jeannie Herman, New York: Lukas and Sternberg, 2002, p. 3)