Sym

path

y fo

r the

Dev

il

Cla

udia

Jos

kow

icz’s

Sym

path

y fo

r the

Dev

il de

pict

s th

e re

stag

ing

of a

fam

ilial

anec

dote

set

in th

e 19

70s

in w

hich

two

imm

igra

nt n

eigh

bors

livi

ng in

La

Paz,

Boliv

ia w

ordl

essl

y en

coun

ter o

ne a

noth

er a

t the

ele

vato

r of t

heir

build

ing.

The

in

stal

latio

n is

com

pris

ed o

f tw

o vi

deo

chan

nels

, one

for e

ach

of th

e pr

otag

onis

ts:

a Po

lish

Jew

who

fled

Eur

ope

durin

g W

orld

War

II, a

nd th

e fo

rmer

Ges

tapo

C

apta

in K

laus

Bar

bie,

livi

ng u

nder

the

nam

e Kl

aus

Altm

ann.

The

ano

nym

ous

Jew

is

atte

nded

by

a yo

unge

r man

—pe

rhap

s a

son—

whos

e da

rker

com

plex

ion

sugg

ests

he

may

be

the

prog

eny

of a

raci

ally

mix

ed c

oupl

e, e

thni

cally

mor

e Bo

livia

n th

an

his

olde

r com

pani

on. T

he fa

ther

sto

ps h

im fr

om e

nter

ing

the

elev

ator

, and

we

wat

ch a

sto

ne-fa

ced

Altm

ann

look

stra

ight

ahe

ad a

s w

e ex

cruc

iatin

gly

wai

t for

the

elev

ator

doo

rs to

clo

se. T

hey

neve

r do;

the

enco

unte

r hov

ers,

froz

en in

a te

nse

stat

e of

pro

long

ed re

cogn

ition

and

coe

xist

ence

. Altm

ann

is re

nder

ed a

stra

nge

spec

imen

by

this

pro

saic

dom

estic

con

text

, so

phys

ical

ly a

nd te

mpo

rally

rem

oved

fro

m th

e m

urde

rous

crim

es h

e pe

rpet

rate

d su

ppre

ssin

g th

e Fr

ench

Res

ista

nce,

ev

entu

ally

ear

ning

him

the

appe

llatio

n “B

utch

er o

f Lyo

n.”

A pr

oxy

for t

he v

iew

er, t

he y

oung

er m

an g

azes

tow

ard

the

noto

rious

SS-H

aupt

stur

mfü

hrer

as

the

artis

t’s s

low

track

ing

shot

s in

vite

us to

atte

nd to

eve

ry

deta

il. B

ut th

e pa

ce is

at o

nce

too

slow

and

som

ehow

acc

eler

ated

, mim

icki

ng th

e di

zzy

diso

rient

atio

n th

at a

ccom

pani

es a

hor

rific

real

izat

ion.

How

can

this

Naz

i be

stan

ding

her

e, in

my

elev

ator

? O

ne v

ideo

inch

es u

s to

war

d Al

tman

n’s

front

doo

r w

hile

the

othe

r sho

ws

the

youn

g m

an, b

ack

in h

is o

wn

apar

tmen

t, pu

tting

on

a ro

ck re

cord

. The

aut

hent

icity

of t

he n

arra

tive

is c

alle

d in

to q

uest

ion

with

clu

es in

bo

th c

hann

els.

Altm

ann’

s na

me

appe

ars

as “A

ltman

” on

his

front

doo

r, re

min

ding

the

view

er o

f the

nat

ure

of o

ral h

isto

ries.

The

cov

er a

rt of

the

Rol

ling

Ston

es

reco

rd h

andl

ed b

y th

e so

n be

ars

not t

he im

age

of th

e or

igin

al “B

egga

rs B

anqu

et”

albu

m o

f 196

8, b

ut th

e 20

03 c

ompi

latio

n of

rem

ixed

ver

sion

s of

the

song

“Sym

path

y fo

r the

Dev

il.” T

he a

nach

roni

sms

rem

ind

us th

at th

is is

a st

ory

filter

ed

thro

ugh

the

artis

t’s s

ubje

ctiv

ity, s

hape

d by

her

ow

n un

ders

tand

ing

of th

e er

a in

w

hich

the

narra

tive

take

s pl

ace

and

by h

er o

wn

mem

orie

s. “S

ympa

thy

for t

he

Dev

il” s

tarts

to p

lay

as th

e fa

ther

and

son

sit

faci

ng e

ach

othe

r. Pe

rform

ed b

y M

ick

Jagg

er, t

he ly

rics

reco

unt s

cene

s of

evi

l in

the

first

-per

son

narra

tive

of a

bo

astfu

l Sat

an. I

n on

e ve

rse,

refe

rring

to th

e G

erm

an ta

ctic

al m

etho

d of

war

fare

th

at in

volv

es c

oord

inat

ed m

ilitar

y ef

forts

by

tank

s, in

fant

ry, a

rtille

ry, a

nd a

ircra

ft,

he s

ings

: “I r

ode

a ta

nk/ H

eld

a ge

nera

l’s ra

nk/ W

hen

the

blitz

krie

g ra

ged/

And

th

e bo

dies

sta

nk.”

As th

e so

ng p

lays

, we

see

the

two

olde

r men

in th

e id

entic

al a

partm

ents

of a

hi

gh-ri

se. A

ltman

n si

ts a

lone

in h

is s

tark

ly fu

rnis

hed

livin

g ro

om, r

eadi

ng. H

eavy

, bl

ood-

red

curta

ins

trim

the

mod

erni

st g

lass

wal

l. In

the

othe

r, th

e Po

le s

its w

ith

his

son

on p

ristin

e w

hite

furn

iture

; pre

sum

ably

his

is th

e m

ore

soci

al e

xist

ence

. Bu

t the

ove

rwhe

lmin

g si

mila

ritie

s ou

twei

gh a

ny d

iffer

ence

s. T

hese

wel

l-dre

ssed

, m

iddl

e-ag

ed m

en s

it co

mfo

rtabl

y in

thei

r affl

uent

hom

es, b

oth

over

look

ing

the

sam

e m

etro

polita

n sk

yline

of L

a Pa

z, th

e An

des

risin

g be

yond

the

city.

The

scen

es

of th

eir p

rivat

e liv

es a

re b

ooke

nded

by

the

enco

unte

r at t

he e

leva

tor,

the

door

of

whi

ch n

ever

see

ms

to c

lose

; rat

her t

han

succ

essi

ve in

stan

ces,

the

two

vign

ette

s si

tuat

e us

in a

per

petu

al m

omen

t of a

necd

otal

his

tory

abo

ut in

just

ice

and

a co

ntin

uous

sta

te o

f ten

sion

in a

sha

red

spac

e. T

his

is a

sto

ry th

at a

llude

s to

the

spec

ific

role

of B

oliv

ia a

s a

have

n fo

r ref

ugee

s bo

th p

oliti

cal a

nd p

erse

cute

d—th

e ou

tlaw

and

the

hunt

ed—

and

the

parti

cula

r stra

ngen

ess

of A

ltman

n’s

com

forta

ble

life in

the

close

pro

ximity

of a

Jew

ish re

fuge

e an

d hi

s fa

mily

. But

it is

also

a p

arab

le

abou

t the

om

nipr

esen

ce o

f evi

l and

one

’s in

abilit

y to

fully

gra

sp th

e ca

paci

ty

for M

an’s

inhu

man

ity a

gain

st M

an, w

heth

er fr

om d

irect

exp

erie

nce

or fr

om th

e re

mov

e of

dec

ades

and

the

act o

f sto

ryte

lling.

CM

P Pr

ojec

ts: C

laud

ia Jo

skow

icz

Sym

path

y fo

r the

Dev

il, 2

011

Two

chan

nel d

igita

l HD

vid

eo (c

olor

, sou

nd)

8 m

inut

es to

tal r

unni

ng ti

me

Cou

rtesy

of t

he a

rtist

and

LM

AKpr

ojec

ts, N

ew Y

ork

Cla

udia

Jos

kow

icz’s

wor

k ha

s be

en fe

atur

ed in

num

erou

s ex

hibi

tions

, inc

ludi

ng th

e XV

III

Bien

al d

e Ar

te In

tern

acio

nal d

e Sa

nta

Cru

z, B

oliv

ia (2

012)

; the

10t

h Sh

arja

h Bi

enni

al,

Uni

ted

Arab

Em

irate

s (2

011)

; the

29t

h Sã

o Pa

ulo

Bien

nial

, Bra

zil (

2010

), th

e 10

th H

avan

a Bi

enni

al, C

uba

(200

9); t

he 4

th S

eoul

Inte

rnat

iona

l Med

ia A

rt Bi

enni

al, K

orea

(200

6); a

nd

the

Foto

fest

Bie

nnia

l, H

oust

on (2

002)

. Am

ong

othe

r aw

ards

, she

is th

e re

cent

reci

pien

t of

a fe

llow

ship

in fi

lm a

nd v

ideo

from

the

John

Sim

on G

ugge

nhei

m F

ound

atio

n (2

011)

; an

arti

stic

resi

denc

y pr

ize

from

the

17th

Vid

eobr

asil

Fest

ival

(201

1); a

nd a

rese

arch

and

te

achi

ng s

chol

arsh

ip fr

om th

e J.

Willi

am F

ulbr

ight

Pro

gram

(200

9). C

MP

Proj

ects

is h

er

first

sol

o pr

esen

tatio

n on

the

wes

t coa

st.

Josk

owic

z w

as b

orn

in 1

968

in S

anta

Cru

z de

la S

ierra

, Bol

ivia

. She

ear

ned

her B

Arch

fro

m th

e U

nive

rsity

of H

oust

on, T

exas

, in

1991

, and

her

MFA

from

New

Yor

k U

nive

rsity

in 2

000.

She

live

s an

d w

orks

in S

anta

Cru

z de

la S

ierra

and

New

Yor

k, w

here

she

iscu

rrent

ly te

achi

ng in

the

Stei

nhar

dt A

rt D

epar

tmen

t at N

YU.

CM

P Pr

ojec

ts: C

laud

ia J

osko

wic

z is

on

view

from

Nov

embe

r 23,

201

3 th

roug

h Ap

ril 1

2,

2014

at t

he C

alifo

rnia

Mus

eum

of P

hoto

grap

hy, p

art o

f UC

R AR

TSbl

ock

in R

iver

side

. C

MP

Proj

ects

is a

n on

goin

g se

ries

of s

olo

pres

enta

tions

org

aniz

ed b

y Jo

anna

Szu

pins

ka-

Mye

rs, C

MP

Cur

ator

of E

xhib

ition

s. S

uppo

rt ha

s be

en p

rovi

ded

by U

CR’

s C

olle

ge o

fH

uman

ities

, Arts

, and

Soc

ial S

cien

ces

(CH

ASS)

and

the

City

of R

iver

side

. Add

ition

al

than

ks to

Bar

t Kei

jser

s Ko

ning

.

California Museum of Photographyat UCR ARTSblock

3824 Main StreetRiverside, CA 92501

artsblock.ucr.edu