Alien Fanfare

2014. video (color, sound), media player, screen or projector, 13 minute seamless loop.
Inspired by Albrecht Dürer’s 16th-century woodcut of a triumphal arch, the work satirically transforms this historic monument into a contemporary luxury hotel. Spaceships and dragons, seemingly fusions of skin and gilt ornamentation, invade earth, giving an unsettling sense of a scientific experiment gone awry. This dissonance creates an uncanny juxtaposition of historical and futuristic elements; mythology, synthetic materials, and architectures of excess—highlighting the intersections of wealth, power, and speculative fiction.
Large video installation by Jonathan Monaghan showing surreal architecture Still from the video installation Alien Fanfare contemporary artist Monaghan artist Monaghan artist Monaghan animations View of Jonathan Monaghan's detailed print View of Jonathan Monaghan's detailed print