Heidi (1992) Paul McCarthy, Mike Kelley

McCarthy: “A collaborative work based on Joanna Spyri’s novel, Heidi.. The entire work consisted of a fabricated set, a group of partial and full life-size rubber figures, two large backdrop paintings, and a video tape shot entirely on the set. The set was installed at the center of the gallery (Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna). The set consisted of a chalet at one end, and at the other end the facade of the American bar in Vienna and a bedroom. The set itself maintains its presence as a sculpture.... The figures, props and other items used in the production of the tape, in conjunction with the set, are to be seen as a whole and as works of art, rather than an accumulation of leftovers. We were interested in imitating film and television production, and exaggerating the fractured process of film. The intention was to create convoluted associations between Heidi, the purity myth in America and Europe and the media view of family life, horror movies and ornamentation - the grandfather, Heidi and Peter, a rural family. Grandfather is abusive and senile. Peter is retarded. Heidi is Madonna and the sick girl is a vision.