Valentina Triet : act II

KUNSTVEREIN GARTENHAUS is pleased to present Valentina Triet, act II, following Rey Akdogan’s act I, an exhibition opening across two distinct moments. act II presents a new work by Triet.

act II is accompanied by a text by Alan Michael.

Fun To Mess With Somebody’s Head

Fun to mess with somebody’s head, mine, and I caught him so he forgot who he was speaking to. And the whole of the world is: can I mess with your head. I’m going to mess with your head. I’m going to see what will happen, might be fun. Which is basically the whole of everything dw I’m fine wotsit. I’m going around at the moment sort of playing, what I call a legal vigilante, which is on camera. I think he says things to make you trip up or miss your step.

I’ve got footage, which is all over facebook. I have a car wayhey, well I worked very hard for my car. And I got my covers nicked off it. So I’ve got CCTV footage of it and I called the police. It’s not relevant to the mental health thing. Well it is a bit because initially they were useless, but the guys who eventually turned up at my house were really helpful. But up until that point. They stole the covers, not that I’ll say who I mean, not here, certain people who will remain nameless. I’m not going to say what kind of car it is because it’s way too nice to say here, they stole the wing mirrors.

So, Springfield in Tooting. Why did I get sectioned 10 years ago. Because I got arrested. For. It’s a very long story, I don’t know where to start. Because I. Because the police. And I believe, and it’s completely grandiose and blahblahblah, and the police tried to do something very naughty to me. And I know. And I can’t tell you about that because I don’t like talking about it. And I broke down in front of my parents today, talking about it, so I don’t want to talk about it again. But, no, I’m cool. Why am I so obsessed about having everything filmed?

You know Fonejacker? Well, I looked like Fonejacker. So, I had my phone in my hand. Do you know Heelys? Little kids, the shoes, your kids probably have well adult versions of those. So I was like wheeling around looking like a madman and I got a parking ticket. And, I got a bit angry because everyone else was parked on a yellow line. I caught the parking guy and got very angry with him. I did not hit him. Behaviour. Anyway, so. So, basically I got arrested because I called the police because I got a parking ticket and I was a bit annoyed.

And this is ten years ago, so there were no smart phones, well not many, and the iphone had just come out and I got that when I was in hospital. And I was all manic and excited, kind of a kid in a candy shop. Anyway, I had a digital camera and I was filming the police, like the muppets do, you know, with the phone right in the face, right, I’m filming you, I’m filming you.

Yup, someone could smack me in the face for smashing windows. I haven’t slept for a while, I’m aware of that. But I’m actually very switched on. You must appreciate that you’re not me, and that I’m in control of me. I have been driving, but you have to realise I’ve been driving at 20 miles an hour. I’m not drinking, I’m not smoking.

I was going to see the GP tomorrow. I was going to go today but, let me tell you what happened today. I’m in the car, playing vigilante. Whatever. So I did a quote this morning, for a job in London. I was just sort of driving around, and I ended up and this should all be on CCTV, or hopefully someone caught it on camera. So to sum up: I performed a citizen’s arrest. That girl at the festival thought I was a cop.

Because: I am aware of the power of social media, albeit I hate it with a passion. And that’s why I don’t have facebook, twitter, instagram and I think you should get rid of twitter and all the other things. I only have youtube because I like the idea of having my own TV show, it’s cool. But everything else is just selfie selfie look at me. I am so obsessed with capturing everything on film. I have a youtube channel, it’s got some videos on it, it’s just I’ve got a drone and I like flying it around. And I’ve got a nice car, I’ve worked very hard for it, it’s a nice car, I’ve got good
knowledge.
Alan Michael
Valentina Triet

Valentina Triet (born 1991, Winterthur, lives between Vienna and Zurich) makes moving-image installations that treat mediation as subtraction, like collapsing found footage into coarse, pixelated color grids. By stripping spectacle down to gesture, rhythm, and affect, her videos frame absence not as loss, but as a condition of the image itself. She has had solo exhibitions at Kunsthalle Winterthur; Marble, Brussels (both 2024); OxfordBerlin, Berlin (2023); Neuer Essener Kunstverein, Essen; and FELIX GAUDLITZ, Vienna (both 2022). Recent group shows include ​It would storm, Galerie Neu, Berlin (2024); ​Viel Vitamin A – Z, Sweetwater, Berlin (2023); ​Group Show November 2022, Alienze, Vienna; ​DRIVE LANGUAGE CRAZY, The Wig, Berlin (all 2022).