Rainer Ganahl, who has a background in philosophy and history, is a conceptual artist investigating broad subjects including language, learning systems such as lectures and seminars, immigration culture, media, race, and social class. He is particularly interested in foreign languages and constructs a concept by adopting interviews and seminar as formats for his artistic practice.
I Hate Karl Marx, which is set in Berlin in 2045, reflects the artist’s diverse interests. In the video, a German woman stands in front of a Karl Marx statue in Berlin-Stralau, screaming that Germany and Europe have lost their place because of China’s rapid capital and economic growth. This work illustrates the irony of a Westerner who uses Chinese to bemoan a Sinified future, complaining that the whole world will soon be dominated by China, a country that was once influenced by Marxism. Despite the video’s contents, the artist asserts that the work expresses not anti-Chinese sentiments but rather the fear that China will gradually overshadow the West.
