Chris Korda: “I'm a pervert, yeah”

Music by and opinions about an artist

[cover of 'I Like to Watch']

Wednesday, November 13, 2002 could have been a day like any other. A day on which someone who calls himself an artist performs in Paradiso, for a few hundred people. But thanks to bans and protests by festival organizers and politicians, it is now the day that half the Dutch press, including Andries Knevel and RTL Boulevard, gathers at the Amsterdam concert hall. To see how perverse Korda really is. So once again Korda: the fuss, the opinions and the concert. Music by and opinions about an artist

Video artist and musician Chris Korda is provocative. Everyone agrees on that. According to some, he is also tasteless in his artistic expressions. The reason why the American pastor of the Church Of Euthanasia, suicide preacher and musician received so much attention in the summer and fall of 2002 was the provocative video for I Like To Watch and the resulting focus on Korda's Church. After the Dagblad van het Noorden published an article about the artist this summer, Lowlands director Eric van Eerdenburg almost lost his faith. He did not want such a horrible act at his Lowlands. And so it happened. Then came the announcement of a concert in the Amsterdam Paradiso, as a way of making up for the Dutch audience. And again Korda received a mountain of free publicity. This time, CDA member Hans Res was his unconscious spin doctor. He wanted to ban the concert. To no avail. The Public Prosecution Service saw no reason to intervene and mayor Job Cohen also spoke sensible words: “Just let Korda perform.”

SPECIAL?

Korda is perverse and controversial. He admits it himself during the interview with 3VOOR12. But is this case special? Actually not. There are countless artists who are applauded by museum directors and reviled by the public. For example, painter Ronald Ophuis was a guest on the cultural program De Plantage two years ago. Admittedly because his artwork Birkenau I – a painting in which prisoners in a concentration camp rape each other – was seen as a scandal. But Ophuis was allowed to have his say. Moreover, his painting was hanging in a respected gallery. 3VOOR12 leaves the judgment in this matter to the public. In order to be able to give a good judgment, we have once again bundled everything you need to know about Korda: - Listen to the interview that Edwin Brienen conducted with Korda in Berlin. In this, the American explains exactly where the idea for his video came from, his plea against humanity, which in his eyes is criminal in nature. - Watch Korda's video clip I Like To Watch on his own website. - Listen to the conversation that Jan Donkers had with Karin Spaink. Spaink is a member of the Church of Euthanasia and tries to make it clear that Korda preaches little that is new. - Read Mojo's reaction to the cancellation of Lowlands 2002 and also see Korda's reaction to this. - Read the article in Het Parool, in which mayor Cohen explains why he is not banning the performance. - Watch the discussion between Ronald Ophuis and Pam Emmerik, about the supposed tastelessness of another work of art. - Read the article in Dagblad van het Noorden, which suddenly gave Korda a lot of attention. - If you want to know more about Korda and his ideas, visit the website of the Church of Euthanasia. - Finally, the concert. If you don't feel like going to see it yourself, then listen to Korda's performance in Paradiso here from Thursday evening.

The preceding is a translation. The original language is here.