Major Project: Enjoy Poverty, RENZO MARTENS

These are a few links to the work of film maker Renzo Martens, Episode 1 takes the artist into Chechnya were he displays a sort of narcissistic alter ego, asking locals what they think of him. In episode 3 the artist gives a satyrical and deeply pessimistic view on the exploitation of poverty inside Africa. The artist contests the fact that whilst so much money is funnelled into the development industry in Africa, it tends to be the rich who benefit. Martens films himself teaching wedding photographers to take photographs of poverty in order to benefit from the ‘poverty industry’ that so far is mostly only benefiting outsiders.

Martens has since been nominated to show work in the Artes Mundi prize, whilst i have never approached film in my practice I do appreciate the the artists sense of pessimism, he views the established development industry with contempt and gives an excellent example of how art can directly influence modern discourse on poverty in humanity.