David Vostell (born 10 October 1960) is a German-Spanish composer and film director.

Biography

David Vostell was born in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

, the first child of

Wolf Vostell Wolf Vostell (14 October 1932 – 3 April 1998) was a German painter and sculptor, considered one of the early adopters of video art and installation art and pioneer of Happenings and Fluxus. Techniques such as blurring and Dé-coll/age are ch ...

and his Spanish wife Mercedes Guardado. His father and his father's art have formed his view of the world from his earliest childhood onwards. The artistics movements of the 1960s and the early 1970s as well as his father's circle with people as

Nam June Paik Nam June Paik (; July 20, 1932 – January 29, 2006) was a Korean American artist. He worked with a variety of media and is considered to be the founder of video art. He is credited with the first use (1974) of the term "electronic super hi ...

and

Allan Kaprow Allan Kaprow (August 23, 1927 – April 5, 2006) was an American painter, assemblagist and a pioneer in establishing the concepts of performance art. He helped to develop the "Environment" and "Happening" in the late 1950s and 1960s, as well as ...

, with whom he often sat together as a teenager, marked him deeply. From 1977 until 1980 he made apprenticeships at the TV and radio station

Sender Freies Berlin Sender Freies Berlin (; abbreviated SFB ; ) was the ARD public radio and television service for West Berlin from 1 June 1954 until 1990 and for Berlin as a whole from German reunification until 30 April 2003. On 1 May 2003 it merged with Ostde ...

, as well as at the publicity agency

TBWA TBWA Worldwide is an international advertising agency whose main headquarters are in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States. Since 1993, the agency has been a unit of Omnicom Group, the world's second largest advertising agency holdin ...

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

. He worked as an assistant film editor, as a film projectionist, in a photolab, in a photostudio and as photographer. In 1979, together with some of his former school mates, he made ''36574 Bilder'' (''36574 Images''), an experimental film in Super 8. In 1980 he shot the documentary ''Endogen Depression'' about the making of an

Installation Installation may refer to: * Installation (computer programs) * Installation, work of installation art * Installation, military base * Installation, into an office, especially a religious (Installation (Christianity) Installation is a Christian li ...

by Wolf Vostell. In 1982 he shot the short film ''Ginger Hel'' starring Mark Eins, founder of the band Din A Testbild, and with the actress Panterra Hamm. The film tells a bizarre love story set in the Berlin underground movement. In Norse mythology Hel is the name for both the

netherworld Netherworld (''nether'', ″beneath, lower″) may refer to: *Underworld, a region thought to be beneath the surface of the world in many religions and mythologies Film and television * ''Netherworld'' (film), a 1992 American horror film *''Nethe ...

and its

goddess A goddess is a female deity. In many known cultures, goddesses are often linked with literal or metaphorical pregnancy or imagined feminine roles associated with how women and girls are perceived or expected to behave. This includes themes of s ...

. This allusion to mythology is conveyed in some scenes of the film by the roles of the actors as they blur into mythological figures. From his early short films onwards, his special affinity for music is in evidence. The film is marked by long, rhythmic passages of music, long shots and action and dialogue between the actors which are reduced to elementary scenes. This creates an idiom in which the music accompanies the scenes and is on equal terms with the images. In the years between 1985 and 1987, he produced 7

music videos A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

. David Vostell's music videos are far from the technical perfection of music videos of the 1980s. His music videos are an experimental mixture of pictures and music. Blurred, uneasy and repetitive shots form a characteristic trait with a style of its own, which breaks with all conventions. In 1990 David Vostell directed the feature film '' The Being from Earth'' in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. This feature, with German title ''Das Wesen der Erde'', tells the fantastic story of a being, a mixture between animal and plant, born out of the sands of the

Mojave desert The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily in ...

. The film title alludes mainly to this being born from earth, but it can also be seen as a

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wit ...

. In its metaphorical sense, it could refer to the state of the planet Earth, to its being or to existence itself. Long camera takes, scenes which are designed to show the acting pared down to the essential, dialogues only as necessary and much music show his individual directing style, but often leave the cinema audience puzzled. ''The Being from Earth'' differs strongly from the conventional view of cinema. ''The Being from Earth'', just like the short film ''Ginger Hel'', is an extremely enigmatic film. It asks the question Why again and again, but very rarely comes up with an answer. The viewer's expectation of finding a clarifying, conventional narrative structure quickly gives way to the search for insight. But even this is difficult to find. Various interpretations of the action are possible and it is probably meant to be that way. The film develops its own obscure dynamic. ''The Being from Earth'' appears to invite the viewer to let themselves drift and to recognise perfection in life and in film as an impossible idea. The being in the film is extremely passive. It does not bite, or kill. In character it can be compared with the creature in

Eraserhead ''Eraserhead'' is a 1977 American surrealist film, surrealist horror film written, directed, produced, and edited by David Lynch. Lynch also created its Eraserhead (soundtrack), score and sound design, which included pieces by a variety of oth ...

David Lynch David Keith Lynch (born January 20, 1946) is an American filmmaker, visual artist and actor. A recipient of an Academy Honorary Award in 2019, Lynch has received three Academy Award nominations for Best Director, and the César Award for Be ...

. After the premiere on December, 8, 1991 in the

Kino Babylon The Kino Babylon is a cinema in the Mitte neighbourhood of Berlin and part of a listed building complex at Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz opposite the Volksbühne theatre. The building was erected 1928–29. It was designed by the architect Hans Poelzig i ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, Lars Olav Beier wrote a review of ''The Being from Earth'' in the magazine Tip Berlin number 25 / 1991. In 1992 the documentary ''Vostell 60 – Rückblick 92'' (''Vostell 60 – Review 92'') about Wolf Vostell's retrospective in

was created under his artistic direction. In 1995 he worked on a series of drawings, sketching his cinematic visions, which led to the publication of the ''Sketchbook 95 / 96'' and ''Sketchbook 97 / 98''. After Wolf Vostell's death in 1998, David Vostell took responsibility for his father's legacy. From 1998 until 2001 he organised the Wolf Vostell Archive and gave it a chronological order. Since 2002 David Vostell has worked as a composer in Spain. In 2003 he created the ''Symphony Nº 1'' and in 2004 the ''Symphony Nº 2''. In 2005 he composed ''Formulas of Life''. 24 suites associated with 24 key words, such as birth, love and dream. The digital booklet accompanying the CD shows all 24 words as digitally visualised photomontages which are linked to his compositions. In 2006 David Vostell composed ''The Universe is Music''. The soundtrack for the video sequences of faraway galaxies transmitted by the

Hubble Space Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope (often referred to as HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most versa ...

. The digital booklet accompanying the CD shows 26 digital photomontages, visualising travel in time and the search for alien life forms in the universe in a concrete way. In 2012 he composed the music for Iris Brosch´s video ''In Paradisum''.

Photography

*1975: ''Fandango'' *1976: ''Martilandrán'', ''Acehúche'', ''Ceclavin'' *1976: ''Creation of a sculpture'' *1976: ''Rain'' *1976: ''Bundtschuh'' *1977: ''The House of the Deaf Man'' *1978: ''Wolf Vostell and Salvador Dali in Figueres'' *1978: ''Wolf Vostell painting with models'' *1978: ''Snowing'' *1979: ''Hamlet'' *1980: ''Endogen Depression'' *1981: ''Fluxus-Train'' *1981: ''The Phoenician Women by Euripides'' *1988: ''The breakfast of Leonardo da Vinci in Berlin'' *1991: ''Automobil-TV-Wedding''

Filmography

*1975: ''Fandango'' *1976: ''Holidays 1968–1976'' *1979: ''36574 Images'' *1979: ''Familienessen'' *1980: ''Endogen Depression'' *1980: ''City Travels 1971–1980'' *1981: ''Fluxus-Zug'' *1982: ''The Portrait'' *1982: ''E.d.H.R.'' *1982: ''Ginger Hel'' *1985: ''Homo Sapiens'' *1985: ''Lost in Life'' *1985: ''Tutila'' *1985: ''She is so nice'' *1986: ''Fluxus-Konzert'', Madrid *1986: ''Die Billard-Mädchen'' *1986: ''Die Winde'' *1986: ''Cabala Musica'' *1986: ''Blue way in'' *1987: ''Blood and Cokee'' *1987: ''Mythos Berlin'' *1989: ''Coma Amazonica'' *1990: '' The Being from Earth'' *1991: ''Bestia Pigra'' *1992: ''Vostell 60 – Review 92''

Digital photomontage

*2005: ''Formulas of Life'' (24 works) *2006: ''The Universe is Music'' (26 works) *2007: ''Influences'' (10 works) *2008: ''EEM / Erotic Enlightenment Mythologies'' (9 works) *2009: ''Voyage – human body'' (7 works) *2010: ''Serotonin'' (10 works) *2011: ''Room'' (7 works) *2012: ''My mind'' (13 works)

Discography

*2003: ''Symphony Nº 1'' *2004: ''Symphony Nº 2'' *2005: ''Formulas of Life'' (24 suites) *2006: ''The Universe is Music'' (

Soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

) *2007: ''Influences'' (10 suites) *2008: ''EEM / Erotic Enlightenment Mythologies'' (9 suites) *2009: ''Voyage inside the human body'' (Soundtrack) *2009: ''Voyage – human body'' (7 suites) *2009: ''Benediction'' (Soundtrack) *2010: ''Prélude'' (Soundtrack) *2010: ''Serotonin'' (10 suites) *2011: ''Room'' (7 suites) *2012: ''My mind'' (13 suites) *2012: ''In Paradisum'' (Soundtrack) *2012: ''The Goddess of Rain'' (Soundtrack) *2012: ''Valentina'' (Soundtrack) *2013: ''Woman & Nature near Extinction'' (Soundtrack) *2013: ''Solid'' (8 suites) *2014: ''Lone Ride'' (6 suites) *2014: ''Karma-Base'', Volume 1 (9 tracks) *2014: ''Endogen Depression'' (Soundtrack) *2015: ''L'Uomo'' – Documental (Soundtrack) *2015: ''L'Uomo'' – Featurette (Soundtrack) *2015: ''L'Uomo'' (Soundtrack) *2015: ''Vita'' (Soundtrack) *2015: ''Cruising at night'' (Soundtrack) *2015: ''Beautiful Earth'' (Soundtrack) *2015: ''Biest'' (3 tracks) *2016: ''Curse'' (3 tracks) *2016: ''How Sweet It Is To Love'' (Soundtrack) *2017: ''For you'' (Soundtrack) *2017: ''Vita II'' (Soundtrack) *2017: ''Revenge'' (3 tracks) *2018: ''Ease'' (3 tracks) *2019: ''Shine'' (3 tracks) *2020: ''Glow44'' (3 tracks)

Other releases

* 1982: ''Triptychon'', 6 tracks with Mark Eins and Ziggy Schöning (on MC) * 1985: ''Work on Video by David Vostell'' (on VHS) * 1992: ''My Intuitive Video 1979–1989'' (on VHS) * 1992: ''The Being from Earth'' (on VHS) * 1992: ''Ginger Hel'' (on VHS) * 1992: ''Vostell 60 – Review 92'' (on VHS) * 1996: Michaela Nolte, ''David Vostell'', ''Sketchbook 95 / 96'' * 1998: ''David Vostell'', ''Sketchbook 97 / 98'' * 2007: ''Vostell 60 – Review 92'' (on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

) * 2012: ''David Vostell, Suites y collages fotográficos digitales 2005–2012'' (

MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...

on CD) * 2013: ''David Vostell, short films, music videos, documentaries 1979–1992'' (on

USB flash drive A USB flash drive (also called a thumb drive) is a data storage device that includes flash memory with an integrated USB interface. It is typically removable, rewritable and much smaller than an optical disc. Most weigh less than . Since firs ...

) * 2014: ''The World of David Vostell. Short films, music videos, documentaries, music, and more 1979–2014'' (on USB flash drive) * 2016: ''Wolf Vostell, Seismograph seiner Epoche, Werke 1952–1998'', LB Publication, Editor David Vostell, The Wolf Vostell Estate * 2016: ''The World of David Vostell. Short films, music videos, documentaries, music, and more 1976–2016'', Special Edition (on USB flash drive) * 2018: Mercedes Guardado, ''La historia del Museo Vostell Malpartida'', LB Publication, Editor David Vostell, The Wolf Vostell Estate, . * 2018: Iris Brosch, ''Trilogy – A Warning for the 21st Century'', Editions du Temple (on

and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

)''The World of David Vostell 1976–2018''. Sun Chariot Books, Cáceres 2019, * 2018: ''Trilogy – A Warning for the 21st Century'', Sagen,

(on USB flash drive) * 2019: ''The World of David Vostell 1976–2018'', Sun Chariot Books, Cáceres 2019, . * 2020: ''Queridísima. Mercedes Guardado y Wolf Vostell'', LB Publication, Editor David Vostell, The Wolf Vostell Estate, Cáceres 2020, . * 2020: ''The World of David Vostell. Short films, music videos, documentaries, music, and more 1976–2020'', Limited Edition (on USB flash drive) * 2022: ''The Being from Earth''. Blu-ray, nine disc, Limited Edition of 100, 9 exclusive double-sided Art Cards. Extra content on USB Flash Drive. * 2022: ''The Being from Earth''. Blu-ray, Illuminated Nebula. * 2022: ''The Being from Earth''. Blu-ray, Illuminated Nebula, Limited Edition of 150 in metal box, from the Original 35 mm - 1.85:1 Negative digitally remastered.

Bibliography

* ''Shakespeare Hamlet Heyme / Vostell''. Schauspiel Köln.

Hansgünther Heyme Hansgünther Heyme (born 22 August 1935) is a German theatre director and prominent figure in the Regietheater movement of the 1960s and 70s. Born in Bad Mergentheim, he studied at Heidelberg University and then under the German director Erwin Pi ...

, photos Stefan Odry, David Vostell, Druck und Verlagshaus Wienand, Köln 1979. * ''Die Phoenizierinnen des Euripides''. Württembergische Staatstheater Stuttgart. Hansgünther Heyme, Fotos David Vostell, Stuttgarter Hefte 28, Druckhaus Münster, Stuttgart 1981. * Hansgünther Heyme, Wolf Vostell, ''Hamlet / Phönizierinnen''. Inszenierungsdokumentation. Photos Stefan Odry, David Vostell, Württembergische Staatstheater Stuttgart, Druckhaus Münster, Stuttgart 1982. * ''TIP Berlin Magazin'', Nr.25 / 1991, Bericht von Lars Olav Beier, ''The Being from Earth''. * Anja Oßwald: ''Steiner Art Tapes''. Ars Nicolai, Berlin 1994, . * ''Filmjahrbuch 1995'', von Lothar R. Just, Heyne Verlag. . * ''Fischer Film Almanach 1995'', Fischer Verlag. . * ''Das Heyne-Lexikon des Science-Fiction-Films'' von Ronald M. Hahn und Volker Jansen. Heyne, München 1994. . * Michaela Nolte: ''David Vostell'', ''Sketchbook 95 / 96'', Berlin 1996. * ''David Vostell'', ''Sketchbook 97 / 98'', Berlin 1998. * ''David Vostell Biografie / Recopilation 1978–2008'' von Michaela Nolte, nivel88 Verlag. .

External links

*
David Vostell at Discogs

Writing about David Vostell

Videos: 1975–2020

Archive at tumblr, 2021

Video: ''In Paradisum'', 2012

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vostell, David 1960 births Living people Film people from Cologne German classical composers German male classical composers German film score composers Male film score composers 21st-century classical composers 21st-century German composers 21st-century German male musicians