1. Julian Charriere

2. Background INFORMATION.
Julian Charriere was born in 1987 in Morges, Switzerland and currently resides and works in Berlin, Germany. He attended the Ecole Cantonale d'art du valais, a school that offers multiple equipments and workshops to work in, such as:
an engraving workshop (screen printing, etching, lithography ect)
media rooms equipped specifically for treatment of photography and video
sound workshops for recording, digital mixing and processing
a laboratory for film photography development
screening rooms
He then attended the Berlin University of the Arts which is one of the largest, most versatile universities focusing on the traditional arts. The courses offered by this university are fine arts, design, music and performing arts.
Julian is a conceptual artist who works with a whole range of medias these include, video, installations, performance and field workings. These field workings involve travelling and working in site specific locations, where he gains inspirations and ideas along the way.
Swiss-French artist Julian Charriere, — Photo: S. Anandan

3. location information.
In 1984 the “Vereinigte Bundesversammlung” (federal assembly) elected Elisabeth Kopp as the first woman as a member of the executive authority “Bunderat”.
In 1989 Appenzell Ausserrhoden was the last canton to give women the vote, Appenzell Innerrhoden had to be forced by the swiss federal court to give woman the vote.
In 1992 Swiss people vote against becoming a member of the EEA (European Economic Area) &
Claude Nicollier takes off on board the space shuttle Atlantis and becomes the first swiss in space
In 1999 Ruth Dreifuss became the first female president of the Bundesrat & Swiss scientist Bertrand Piccard and British co-pilor Brian Jones have become the first balloonists to circumnavigate the globe with a non-stop, non-refuelled flight. It has taken the team 19 days, 21 hours and 55 minutes to travel the 46,759km on board the Breitling-Orbiter 3
In 2002 Switzerland was declared a full member of the United Nations

4. Location history.
In the 19th century the Industrial Revolution transformed Berlin. The cities economy & population expanded dramatically, and it became the main railway hub and economic centre of Germany.
Suburbs soon developed and increased the area and population of Berlin.
After the second World War, the city was divided by the Berlin Wall ( ) and the founding of the two German states increased the Cold War tensions. East Berlin claimed most of the historic city centre while the West German government established itself as 'Bonn'. In 1961 East Germany began building the Berlin Wall between the East and West.
In 1989 the cold war ended and the Berlin Wall fell on 9th November and was mostly demolished. Today the East Side Gallery preserves a large portion of the wall.
On 3rd October 1990, the two parts of Germany were reunited as the Federal Republic of Germany and Berlin again became the official German Capital.

5. Berlin's art scene.
From alternative art spaces in Friedrichshain to underground bunkers in Mitte and fine art galleries in Charlottenburg, Berlin boasts a thriving, dynamic art scene rivalled by few other cities in the world. A few of them include:
CFA – Contemporary Fine Arts – This gallery is located in the heart of Berlin, Mitte since and has been presenting visitors with an eclectic range of work from both German and international artists. From Berlin's very own Jonathan Meese to painter and sculptor Georg Baselitz, the gallery keeps a close watch on the art world by displaying thought-provoking works.
Sammlung Boros Collection- This gallery was built in 1942 as a bomb shelter and has been used previously as a prison, a banana store room and as an S&M fetish club before finding its way into the hands of Christian Boros who transformed it into a gallery. Artists such as Olafur Eliasson, Wolfgang Tillmans and Tracey Emin have exhibited here. Visits to this gallery are only possible on weekends and by appointment.
Max Hetzler- A big name on the German art scene, moved from Cologne to Berlin at the beginning of the 1990's, when contemporary art was experiencing a boom. His two gallery spaces now resides in the Charlottenburg neighbourhood, western Berlin. In these spaces he has exhibited large-format works and installations, alongside artists like Mona Hatoum, Jeff Koons, Beatrix Milhazes and Christopher Wool.

6. Polygon/ Somewhere
Julian Charriere -

7. "Polygon is a series of photographs shot at the semipalatinsk nuclear test sight in Kazakhstan. The photographs are made on analogue medium format film, and submitted to radiation before their development. Thus they both depict the site of nuclear radiation and bare the actual trace of radioactivity's effects. Charriere's journey to the polygon was inspired by J.G Ballard's short story "The Terminal Beach". It oscillates between art, science and fiction and brings us to one of the most remote and inaccessible of places – to the beginning of the nuclear age."
This work reveals influences from Robert Smithson's Land Art, Olafur Eliasson's practice and science fiction literature.

8. Clockwork
Julian Charriere

9. Julian Charriere – CLockwork http://julian-charriere.net/
“Julius vo Bismarck and Julian Charrieres installation Clockwork was the first created for the art space OBEN, In Vienna. Twelve concrete mixers, set up in a circle in the centre of the vast 19th century space, are filled with piece, mostly stones of various Viennese buildings. This 'erosion machine' accelerates the urban decay. The man made rectangular shapes of the colliding stones are now rounded and transformed back to dust.” -
Julians video opens showing separate close up shots of each cement mixer, the video then zooms out of show all twelve of the mixers, the video then progresses to showing the inside of each mixer, each containing a different type of rock or stone, spinning around inside.

10. The Blue fossil entropic stories
Julian Charriere -

11. The Blue Fossil Entropic Stories- Julian Charriere http://julian-charriere.net/
“The Blue Fossil Entropic Stories is the photographic trace of an expedition Julian undertook in 2013, travelling to Iceland to climb an iceberg in the Arctic Ocean and melt the frozen water beneath his feet with a gas torch during 8 hours. Julian confronts the elements in a seemingly hopeless battle, human time vs geological time. And yet a battle of which global warming is the only starting point. What remains of this endeavour are three photographs of the arresting beauty, a kind of contemporary version of Caspar David Friedrich's Wanderer Overlooking the Sea of Fog ( ), and a questioning of our relation to nature as inherited from the Romantics via ecological thought.”
This piece of work is an example of his field working pieces, as he travels to site specific sites and locations.

12. And the post-modern collapse of time and space
Julian Charriere -

13. “And The Post Modern Collapse Of Time And Space I a short video- loop, shot in Iceland and capturing a single, accidental action: a stone rolling down a mountain, set in motion by the artists hands. Like the “Butterfly Effect” of chaos theory, there is no knowing what this initial, simple gesture will generate, only that the smallest of changes can result in large difference in a later state, in other spaces”
And The Post Modern Collapse Of Time And Space- Julian Charriere

14. Panorama
Julian Charriere -

15. Panorama – Julian Charriere http://julian-charriere.net/
“Panorama consists of a series of photographs seemingly depicting majestic alpine landscapes under various weather conditions, showing snowy peaks emerging from foggy valleys or mountain panoramas lit by a fleeting rainbow. But images are not always what they seem to be, and indeed, what Julian shot in this series are different ephemeral interventions, produced site-specifically in various construction sites in Berlin. The artist used extracted soil that was covered by flour and fire extinguisher foam to generate miniature model Apls inspired by his native Switzerland in the middle of the city. With this work, the artist questions not only how perception works, but also our fantasized relation to “Nature” and the sublime, while playing the demiurge on his own, limited scale.”
Panorama – Julian Charriere

16. The past three or four years Julian has been interested in time perception, questioning how he can show time within a sculpture or within a work of art. As he believes that time and distance are shrinking through new technology such as new media devices and the internet.
As a young travelling artist in Europe, he feels that Europe is not really a continent anymore as it is so easy and quick to get from country to country, in comparison to years ago where trips would have to be planned.
Watch Julian's Interview where he explains his work and his ideas in depth here :

17. Some pigeons are more equal than others
Julian Charriere & Julius von Bismarck Photo Credit -

18. In 2012 Julian collaborated with Julius von Bismarck for a site specific performance called “Some pigeons are more equal than others” (insert pigeon images on page). This took place at the Venice Architecture Bienniale, and has been adapted several times in Copenhagen and Berlin. This piece of work incorporates a pigeon trapping device (designed by Charriere and Bismarck themselves), the device then captures pigeons in a public place and continues to almost airbrush them with completely safe dyes.

19. “Unusual, bright-colored birds were observed on the Piazza San Marco in the summer of 2012, and in Copenhagen in the same year similar birds were sighted, which largely maintained close proximity to pigeons. When looking at the birds more closely, observers realized with surprise that the animals were indeed pigeons— with dyed feathers. Julius von Bismarck and Julian Charrie?re developed an apparatus that was installed in public space to attract and trap pigeons. Once caught, the birds were sprayed with natural dyes of different colors before being released again into the city. This infusion of color lends a new dimension to the familiar experience of an encounter between a human and a bright-colored animal. The pigeon—at best considered an easily ignored carrier of disease and sign of urban cultural malaise—suddenly becomes an animal. The temporary and artificial alteration in the bird’s coloring is enough to bring about its renaturalization.” -