Eva and Franco Mattes
Encyclopedia
Eva and Franco Mattes were born in Italy
in 1976. Since meeting in Madrid
in 1994, they have never separated, living a nomadic life throughout Europe
and the United States
. Neither of them received art education
; however, they are counted among the pioneers of the Net Art movement, and are renowned for their subversion of public media.
The couple first gained notoriety in 1998 by snagging the domain name
vaticano.org in order to undermine the Catholic Church’s official website. They then went on a cloning
spree, copying and remixing other artists’ works, e.g., Jodi.org. They also targeted “closed” websites, such as Hell.com
, thereby turning private art into public art
. They explained that people use websites interactively and follow what they are supposed to do. The Mattes', on the other hand, view the websites in a different way and decide that they can express them differently. By doing something that is not predicted by the author of the website, "the beholder becomes an artist and the artist becomes a beholder: a powerless witness of what happens to his work." From 1995–97, the pair toured the world’s most important museum
s and stole
dozens of fragments from well-known works by artists such as Duchamp, Kandinsky, Beuys, and Rauschenberg.
The Mattes have manipulated video games, Internet
technologies, feature films and street advertising to reveal truths concealed by contemporary society. They have created media facades believable enough to elicit embarrassing reactions from governments, the public, and the art world. In addition, they have orchestrated several unpredictable mass performances, staged outside art spaces and involved unwitting audiences in scenarios that mingle truth and falsehood to the point of being indistinguishable.
The Mattes shocked the mainstream art world with the invention of Darko Maver, a reclusive, radical artist who achieved cult status and was featured in the Venice Biennale
before being exposed as pure fiction. This Serbian artist created by the two, presented very gruesome and realistic models of murder victims. He exposed the brutality of war in the Balkans to world. Many of the photographs and models shown were reenactments of actual deaths found on the web. Their message to the world was while artists are making shocking artwork absorbed by the market, real violence is being perpetrated and ignored by a media-anesthetized world. Their off-the-wall performances– for which they have been sued multiple times– include affixing fake architectural heritage plaques (An Ordinary Building, 2006), rolling out a media campaign for a non-existent action movie (United We Stand, 2005) and even convincing the people of Vienna
that Nike
had purchased the city’s historic Karlsplatz
and was about to rename it “Nikeplatz” (Nike Ground, 2003).
Eva and Franco first revealed their love for Second Life through their project "13 Most Beautiful Avatars". In an interview with Domenico Quaranta, they stated that the self-portraits of the 13 avatars were not meant to reveal "the way you 'are', but rather on the way you 'want to be'". The Mattes wanted to stress that our culture revolves around plagiarism. Followed by saying that their project "13 Most Beautiful Avatars" is not a completely original piece. In fact, they stated that anyone who claims that their work is an original, should really "start doubting" their mentality because practically everything in this world, not limited to art, is a reproduction or remix of something that was released once before.
Their art has been featured at the Venice Biennale (2001), the Walker Art Center
, Minneapolis (2001), Manifesta
, Frankfurt
(2002) and in other venues worldwide, including the New Museum, New York
(2005), Collection Lambert, Avignon (2006) and Performa, New York (2007 and 2009).
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
in 1976. Since meeting in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
in 1994, they have never separated, living a nomadic life throughout Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Neither of them received art education
Art education
Art education is the area of learning that is based upon the visual, tangible arts—drawing, painting, sculpture, and design in jewelry, pottery, weaving, fabrics, etc. and design applied to more practical fields such as commercial graphics and home furnishings...
; however, they are counted among the pioneers of the Net Art movement, and are renowned for their subversion of public media.
The couple first gained notoriety in 1998 by snagging the domain name
Domain name
A domain name is an identification string that defines a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control in the Internet. Domain names are formed by the rules and procedures of the Domain Name System ....
vaticano.org in order to undermine the Catholic Church’s official website. They then went on a cloning
Cloning
Cloning in biology is the process of producing similar populations of genetically identical individuals that occurs in nature when organisms such as bacteria, insects or plants reproduce asexually. Cloning in biotechnology refers to processes used to create copies of DNA fragments , cells , or...
spree, copying and remixing other artists’ works, e.g., Jodi.org. They also targeted “closed” websites, such as Hell.com
Hell.com
Hell.com is an internet domain which has achieved a degree of notoriety due to its name, and an intentionally mysterious website that existed there from August 1995 to 2009 created by the first registrant of the domain, artist Kenneth Aronson....
, thereby turning private art into public art
Public art
The term public art properly refers to works of art in any media that have been planned and executed with the specific intention of being sited or staged in the physical public domain, usually outside and accessible to all...
. They explained that people use websites interactively and follow what they are supposed to do. The Mattes', on the other hand, view the websites in a different way and decide that they can express them differently. By doing something that is not predicted by the author of the website, "the beholder becomes an artist and the artist becomes a beholder: a powerless witness of what happens to his work." From 1995–97, the pair toured the world’s most important museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
s and stole
Art theft
Art theft is usually for the purpose of resale or for ransom . Stolen art is sometimes used by criminals to secure loans.. One must realize that only a small percentage of stolen art is recovered. Estimates range from 5 to 10%. This means that little is known about the scope and characteristics of...
dozens of fragments from well-known works by artists such as Duchamp, Kandinsky, Beuys, and Rauschenberg.
The Mattes have manipulated video games, Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
technologies, feature films and street advertising to reveal truths concealed by contemporary society. They have created media facades believable enough to elicit embarrassing reactions from governments, the public, and the art world. In addition, they have orchestrated several unpredictable mass performances, staged outside art spaces and involved unwitting audiences in scenarios that mingle truth and falsehood to the point of being indistinguishable.
The Mattes shocked the mainstream art world with the invention of Darko Maver, a reclusive, radical artist who achieved cult status and was featured in the Venice Biennale
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in Venice, Italy. The Venice Film Festival is part of it. So too is the Venice Biennale of Architecture, which is held in even years...
before being exposed as pure fiction. This Serbian artist created by the two, presented very gruesome and realistic models of murder victims. He exposed the brutality of war in the Balkans to world. Many of the photographs and models shown were reenactments of actual deaths found on the web. Their message to the world was while artists are making shocking artwork absorbed by the market, real violence is being perpetrated and ignored by a media-anesthetized world. Their off-the-wall performances– for which they have been sued multiple times– include affixing fake architectural heritage plaques (An Ordinary Building, 2006), rolling out a media campaign for a non-existent action movie (United We Stand, 2005) and even convincing the people of Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
that Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
had purchased the city’s historic Karlsplatz
Karlsplatz
Karlsplatz is a town square on the border of the first and fourth districts of Vienna. It is one of the most frequented and best connected transportation hubs in Vienna. The Karlskirche is located here....
and was about to rename it “Nikeplatz” (Nike Ground, 2003).
Eva and Franco first revealed their love for Second Life through their project "13 Most Beautiful Avatars". In an interview with Domenico Quaranta, they stated that the self-portraits of the 13 avatars were not meant to reveal "the way you 'are', but rather on the way you 'want to be'". The Mattes wanted to stress that our culture revolves around plagiarism. Followed by saying that their project "13 Most Beautiful Avatars" is not a completely original piece. In fact, they stated that anyone who claims that their work is an original, should really "start doubting" their mentality because practically everything in this world, not limited to art, is a reproduction or remix of something that was released once before.
Their art has been featured at the Venice Biennale (2001), the Walker Art Center
Walker Art Center
The Walker Art Center is a contemporary art center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is considered one of the nation's "big five" museums for modern art along with the Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum and the Hirshhorn...
, Minneapolis (2001), Manifesta
Manifesta
Manifesta, the , is a European pan-regional contemporary cultural biennale, described in 2010 by the as "stunning in its scope and uncompromisingly experimental in its approach".-Manifesta History:...
, Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
(2002) and in other venues worldwide, including the New Museum, New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
(2005), Collection Lambert, Avignon (2006) and Performa, New York (2007 and 2009).
Works
- Plan C, 2010, a secretive project in Chernobyl
- My Generation, 2010, video collage on broken computer
- Freedom, 2010, online performance
- No Fun, 2010, online performance
- Bagless Canister Cyclonic Vacuum, 2009, outdoor billboard
- Traveling by Telephone, 2008, photos in videogames
- It's always six o'clock, 2008
- Synthetic Performances, 2007, art Performances inside videogames
- Portraits, 2006, series of portraits on canvas of Second Lifes avatar
- An Ordinary Building, 2006, a fake architectural heritage sign
- United We Stand, 2005, advertisement campaign for a non existent movie
- Nike Ground, 2003, a fake Nike advertisement campaign
- Vopos, 2002, one year of satellite self-surveillance
- The K Thing, 2001
- Biennale.py (with Epidemic), 2001, a computer virus as a work of art
- Life Sharing, 2000–03, the artists' personal computer turned into an open server
- Copies, 1999, copies and remixes of popular Net Art websites
- Hybrids, 1998, online Net Art collages
- Vaticano.org, 1998, one of the first spoof websites
- Darko Maver, 1998, a made-up artist
- Stolen Pieces, 1995–97