An acquired taste, so to speak
Sometimes you don’t quite understand why you’re watching and certainly not why you keep watching. We had that above when seasonal spirit Michiel Lieuwma was one artist last week Melchior Koch (24) gave himself the opportunity to introduce himself to Michiel’s audience. Melchior applied at 19:58 for the position of artistic polemicist by Michiel “invasive, fragile, too scared and annoying” and concluded – to everyone’s tenderness – nervously with “can you do something with that?”
Melchior came across as trying to relate to a bigger stage than he deserved, someone who talks faster than he thinks, confuses vocabulary with insight, confuses pursed Rietveld lips with gravitas, and still thinks that ultimate meaning and softening can be found at the level of knowledge and psychology. In short, a 24-year-old boy.
We didn’t feel much about that; not contempt, but a lack of esteem. But the follow-up below, produced and edited by Melchior himself, changed that. It is a 7.5 minute montage cut from an hour and a half conversation. On our own territory, under our own management, we suddenly see more relaxation a week later, a realization that taking yourself too seriously on camera is never a good idea, fewer pursed lips and fewer (difficult) words that can actually be followed now and then.
Best moment from 4:24, in which Melchior his artist’s burden – a desperation for recognition, a workable format and money – begins to shape with less and less manipulation and expresses how jealous he actually is of Michiel. Why is everything somehow worth watching? No idea, but we’re writing four paragraphs about it anyway. Well, an acquired taste.
A very workable format: Melchior Koch’s Eye for an Eye
