Jack and friends is an art project that attempts to create a bridge from the classical painting to concept art. The starting point was four paintings of young men. The characters on the paintings seemed to have a lethargic mystery to them and their relationship to the viewer was of a rather ambiguous nature. The artists behind the project asked themselves the question: “Who are they?” After a while the artists came to the conclusion that they were all handsome, rich and intelligent young men. They were all highly resourceful in spite of their young age. They were at ease with life and in deep harmony with both their body and mind, – in a situation where they had ultimate freedom to do what they wanted, – or to do nothing at all.
The artists then gave each of these young men a name and a possibility to share with us some of their thoughts, their wisdom of life. The artists wanted the young men to speak in a rather articulate way directly from the paintings. Philosophical statements about life were created for each character, and recorded by young men from all over Europe. Loudspeakers were then connected to the paintings in such a way that the voices come directly from their mouths.
Then the next question arose. What is the relation between them? Are they friends? What kind of friends? The title of the project “Jack and friends” felt right from the first moment but didn’t explain what kind of friendship.
Then the next stage of the project was developed as an answer to this question: With their knowledge and ease they were partners in a company called “Jack & friends lifestyle consultants”. In USA but also in Europe and Asia lifestyle consulting is a new marked. The international high tech capitalism produces a large number of young super-rich people. These people do not necessarily come from old rich families with the cultural and social background enabling them to master their lives as super-rich. They need professional help to guide them regarding what to wear, how to decorate their homes, how to arrange social acceptable parties, how to get the right friends etc.
“Jack & friends lifestyle consultants” is such a company. This group of young, highly professional men will be able to give assistance on all aspects of life from “charity investment programs” to sex. The international aspect of contemporary lifestyle consulting is as important and logic as the multinational capitalism itself.
When installing one of the paintings in the prestigious art-residence “Le Fortin” in South of France it became clear that the paintings are icons of a particular lifestyle. The next step of the art project was to produce art videos where the paintings are parts of a special architectural and social environment where the actions around the paintings express the Jack & friends lifestyle.
The art project “Jack & friends” consists of paintings with integrated sound system and booklets with text, art videos and performance works for galleries and museums with live representatives of Jack’s friends.
JACK AND FRIENDS LIFESTYLE CONSULTANTS
“Jack and friends lifestyle consultants” offers complete and comprehensive aid to most aspects of your life such as:
Individual diet programmes
Charity investment strategies
Fitness programmes
Personal styling (hair, makeup, clothing)
Social networking
Art investment
Substance abuse therapy
Social conversation skills, Culture
Architecture and interior design
Sex
Our team of young dynamic experts in each field will guide you through the jungle of trends, fashions and social-cultural signs in order to help you shape a well functioning identity within the privileged social class. “Jack & friends” work on an international level. The lifestyle consultants network collaborates with highly qualified experts in America, Asia and Europe.