Gert Hof

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Gert Hof (born May 4, 1951 in Taucha , Saxony ; † January 24, 2012 in Wandlitz , Brandenburg ) was a German light artist and director .

Life

Gert Hof grew up in the GDR . He began an apprenticeship as a chemical specialist near Leipzig, later he trained as a librarian via distance learning and finally moved to the Brecht Scientific Center in Berlin . He had previously attended seminars in philosophy and theater studies in Leipzig .

In 1967, shortly before he started training as a skilled worker, Hof was sentenced to an 18-month prison term by the Leipzig district court for agitation that was dangerous to the state. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, he was rehabilitated.

He began his directing career at the Städtisches Theater in Leipzig, where he a. a. Frank Castorf met. Hof lived in Berlin from the mid-1970s and worked as a research assistant at the Brecht Center, where he wrote several publications on Brecht's work. The director and actor Alexander Lang discovered him in the Brecht Center . Gert Hof accompanied Lang's various productions (including The Round Heads and the Pointed Heads ) as a dramaturge and assistant. There followed a collaboration with Siegfried Höchst and Ursula Karusseit at the Volksbühne. In the last years of the former GDR, Hof staged at various theaters in the GDR, u. a. in the Altenburg Theater , where he was senior director until 1990. After reunification he worked as a freelance director and worldwide as a light artist.

In 1990, after realizing the German premiere of the French author Bernard-Marie Koltès in Altenburg, Hof staged his play In the loneliness of the cotton fields with Florian Martens and Uwe Steinbruch in the two leading roles. Quai West , the French author's second play, was staged by Gert Hof at the Volksbühne shortly before the Castorf era began. FM Einheit ( Einstürzende Neubauten ) and Ulrike Haage and Katharina Franck ( Rainbirds ) provided the music for the production . The texts of Bernard Marie Kolté did not let Hof go. He staged Battle of the Negro and the Dogs as the third play by the late author in the Tränenpalast , the former border crossing from East to West Berlin, in the leading roles of Florian Martens, Peter Bause and Hannelore Koch . Finally, in 1994, Gert Hof brought his fourth Koltés piece to the stage of the Akademie der Künste on Hanseatenplatz with dull voices . Blixa Bargeld played one of the main roles and also provided the stage music. With this staging, especially because of the extraordinary lighting and stage design, Hof was commissioned to stage Heiner Müller's Hamlet machine in the Muffathalle in Munich with the participation of the French drummers from Les Tambours du Bronx . The Austrian artist Gottfried Helnwein designed the costumes and the stage design.

In 1995 he started working with the band Rammstein and from 1998 with the concept artist and producer Asteris Kutulas , with whom he realized over 40 productions (concerts, mega & special events) worldwide by 2012. The magazine Theater der Zeit paid tribute to Gert Hof in its obituary with the words: "Gert Hof was one of the visionaries of modern light art and one of the most sought-after lighting designers worldwide."

tomb

Gert Hof was married for 20 years to the dramaturge Nina Juliane Martina Pietsch, with whom he has a son. He died on January 24, 2012 with his family and is buried in the Dorotheenstädtischer Friedhof in Berlin-Mitte.

Works

Gert Hof has staged at various theaters in the GDR, including Altenburg, Karl-Marx-Stadt, the Deutsches Theater, the Volksbühne Berlin and Schwedt, and later also in Munich, Tübingen, Zurich and Stuttgart. Hof began working with the band Rammstein in 1994, for whom he staged stage shows until 2010. He also worked with other artists, including a. with Klaus Schulze , Blixa Bargeld, Corvus Corax (for Cantus Buranus II), Mikis Theodorakis , Nick Cave , Gottfried Helnwein, Motörhead , Einstürzende Neubauten, Mike Oldfield , Diamanda Galás , Vangelis , Zülfü Livaneli , Scorpions , Maria Farantouri , Gabi Delgado-López , Ruslana , WestBam , Anouk and Joachim Witt .

Theater productions - direction and co-direction (selection)

  • 1983 Deutsches Theater Berlin, Bertolt Brecht - The Round Heads and the Pointed Heads - Dramaturgical collaboration (Director: Alexander Lang)
  • 1983 Städtisches Theater Karl-Marx-Stadt, Bertolt Brecht - Die Dreigroschenoper (with the rock band Silly)
  • 1984 Volksbühne Berlin, Gerhart Hauptmann - Schluck und Jau (Direction: Siegfried Höchst and Gert Hof)
  • 1985 Volksbühne, Wsewolod Wischnewski - Optimistic Tragedy (Direction: Siegfried Höchst and Gert Hof)
  • 1987 Theater Altenburg, Bertolt Brecht - Die Dreigroschenoper (with the jazz singer Pascal von Wroblewsky)
  • 1987 Theater der Stadt Schwedt, Wolfgang Herzberg - Paule Panke with the band Pankow (premiere)
  • 1987 Theater Altenburg, Werner Buhss - Nina, Nina, Tam Kartina (premiere; with the rock band Pankow)
  • 1989 Theater Altenburg, Ulrich Plenzdorf - Time of the Wolves (WP)
  • 1989 Theater Altenburg, Sławomir Mrożek - Police (GDR EA)
  • 1989 Theater Altenburg, Bernard-Marie Koltès - In the loneliness of the cotton fields (GDR EA)
  • 1990 Schauspielhaus Berlin, Simone de Beauvoir - She takes revenge through the monologue (WP)
  • 1991 Volksbühne Berlin, Bernard-Marie Koltès - The night just before the woods (best production of the year)
  • 1992 Volksbühne Berlin, Bernard-Marie Koltès - Quai West, music: FM Einheit (Einstürzende Neubauten)
  • 1992 Free Volksbühne Berlin / Pfefferberg, Edward Albee - Zoo history
  • 1992 Freie Volksbühne Berlin, Bernard-Marie Koltès - Koltès IV (premiere; texts from the estate)
  • 1993 Tränenpalast Berlin, Bernard-Marie Koltès - Fight of the Negro and the Dogs Stage: Gottfried Helnwein, Music: Rainbirds (invitation to the Berlin Theatertreffen and the Wiener Festwochen), Dramaturgy: Nina Hof
  • 1994 Akademie der Künste Berlin, Bernard-Marie Koltès - dull voices, stage: Gottfried Helnwein, music: Blixa Bargeld, dramaturgy: Nina Hof (invitation to the Salzburg Festival and the theater festival in Avignon)
  • 1995 Landestheater Tübingen, Albert Drach - A and K or A Fratricide Amended (WP)
  • 1996 Schauspielhaus Zürich, Heiner Müller - Traumwald / An installation on the occasion of the 1st anniversary of Heiner Müller's death, music: Michael Nyman
  • 1997 Muffathalle Munich & Arena Berlin (47th Berliner Festwochen), Heiner Müller - Hamlet machine (music: Les Tambours du Bronx & Caspar Brötzmann; stage / costumes: Gottfried Helnwein)
  • 2000 Athens State Opera, Mikis Theodorakis - The Metamorphoses of Dionysus (Opera)

Multimedia shows

At the end of the 1990s, Hof developed a new concept for multimedia mega-shows. Since then he has created choreographies out of light, fireworks and music. Among other things, he developed the lighting concepts for the stage shows of the band Rammstein .

  • 1999/2000: at the turn of the year (Millennium Events), above the Acropolis in Athens (with Mikis Theodorakis ) and at the same time above the Berlin Victory Column (with Mike Oldfield )
  • 2000/2001: at the turn of the year in Beijing (China Millennium Monument)
  • December 7, 2002 over the Semperoper in Dresden (benefit event for Dresden after the flood disaster)
  • July 26, 2003: Lights of Freedom event over the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City
  • September 18, 2003: Day of the City Event on Red Square in Moscow (with the Scorpions)
  • May 1, 2004: Welcome Europe Event in Malta to celebrate EU enlargement
  • April 25, 2005: on the 90th anniversary of ANZAC Day at Gallipoli Bay in Turkey
  • November 22, 2005: on the occasion of the 35-year accession to the throne of the Sultan of Oman at the Palace Bay of Muscat
  • June 9, 2006: for the opening of the Messner Mountain Museum (Sigmundskron Castle) in Bozen (Italy)
  • September 30, 2006: for the 750th anniversary of the city of Lviv (Ukraine) with Ruslana
Christening of AIDAdiva with light effects and fireworks by Gert Hof
  • October 23, 2006: for the 60th anniversary of UNICEF in the LTU-Arena Düsseldorf (charity gala)
  • November 10, 2006: for the reopening of Dresden Central Station
  • January 1, 2007: Welcome Europe Event in Sofia to celebrate Bulgaria's enlargement of the EU
  • April 20, 2007: AIDAdiva ship christening in Hamburg , music: Westbam
  • July 12, 2007: Event for Hugo Boss in the Russian Embassy in Berlin on the occasion of the opening of Berlin Fashion Week
  • July 19, 2008: Collosseum of Lights - closing event of the Love Parade 2008 in Dortmund , music: Westbam
  • November 8, 2008: Apassionata - Sehnsucht (Premiere) - Arena shows in Neubrandenburg, Zurich, Mannheim, Saarbrücken
  • January 1st, 2009: Vilnius Cathedral Square on the occasion of 1,000 years of Lithuania and the European Capital of Culture 2009
  • June 9, 2010: Opening of the Jerusalem Light Festival and closing ceremony of the Israel Music Festival at the Sultans Pool Theater in Jerusalem
  • July 9, 2011: 10 Seasons Michalsky, light performance on the Stylenite of the designer Michael Michalsky
  • December 11, 2011: Opening of the Doha amphitheater in Qatar / Music: Vangelis live concert

DVD and VHS productions (stage and light design)

  • 1999: Rammstein, Live from Berlin - The concert video
  • 2000: Mike Oldfield, Art in Heaven - The Concert Video
  • 2003: Rammstein, Lichtspielhaus - light concept / live acts
  • 2005: Motörhead, Stage Fright - The concert video
  • 2006: Rammstein, Völkerball - lighting concept / live acts
  • 2007: A Ship of Light - AIDAdiva, Directed by Gert Hof (Music by Westbam) in coproduction with Asteris Koutoulas and Andy Ludyk
  • 2008: Anouk , Live at Gelredome - light concept / live act
  • 2010: Corvus Corax , Cantus Buranus - Live in Munich - The concert video

Fonts

  • with Achim Perleberg, Anja Preuss: Art In Heaven - The Millennium Event Berlin. Art In Heaven Edition, Bochum 2000, ISBN 3-9807371-0-1 .
  • Rammstein - The Book. Die Gestalten Verlag, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-931126-19-6 .
  • Gert Hof - Departure from light and fire Ferropolis-Event, EXPO 2000 Edition, 2001.
  • Till Lindemann - knife. With photos by Jens Rötzsch and Gert Hof, Eichborn Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2002, ISBN 3-8218-0927-2 .
  • Gert Hof - Obsessions, The world's greatest light monuments. Eichborn Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2003, ISBN 3-8218-0746-6 .
  • Gert Hof - Leasing the sky, the greatest light monuments on earth. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-89602-738-7 .

Quotes about Gert Hof

  • Gert Hof combines light and fire, music and space into a new whole. For one night he takes a city and turns it into his stage. His staging goes beyond anything that artists have created so far. Gert Hof founded a new art form. First he inspires heads of state so that they block the Danube for a week for his constructions or reveal their sanctuaries such as the Acropolis. Then he captures an audience of millions and gives them experiences that cannot be repeated. They give meaning to the word “unique”. Behind the intoxication of sounds and lights lies precision and uncompromisingness - the other side of Gert Hof. He is so unique in his art that he was asked to celebrate the turn of the millennium in the home of fireworks. More than four million people saw it in Beijing, and one billion watched on television. The director gives his audience a precious, lost pleasure. Gert Hof gives birth to childhood. His composition of light and music makes us wonder how things don't come after childhood. How can an artist create such moments today when every evening watching TV is full of illusions? Gert Hof crosses borders. His work is not just monumental. His creations are easy, yes serene. It's magic. ( Sebastian Turner , Managing Director Scholz & Friends , 2003, from: Gert Hof - Obsessions, Eichborn Verlag, Frankfurt am Main, 2003, p. 4)
  • Gert would never get the stupid idea of ​​lighting a band well. That's why I'm a fan of Gert Hof. ( Flake , Rammstein , from: Gert Hof - Leasing the sky, Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2006, p. 145)
  • Gert Hof is an all-rounder. As a designer, director or artist, he has always amazed us. Why? Quite simply because he makes his visions his business, because he can implement, because he is brilliant. Whether in Beijing, Oman or in the Alps - he has always moved mountains. He has succeeded in making the seemingly impossible possible and so his productions of music, fire and light have become incomparable spectacles - unrepeatable too ... His performances are never just information events. They are great theater, expressionist total works of art. And always moving. ( Reinhold Messner , from: Gert Hof - Leasing the sky, Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2006, p. 4)
  • Dear Mr. Hof, my heartfelt congratulations on your Millennium mega-event in China! After all the careful efforts, the tireless perseverance and the tolerance in this, our first collaboration, you have managed to stage the most wonderful light show at the China Millennium Monument at the turn of the millennium in Beijing. This cultural exchange reveals a charming contrast and at the same time a connection between mentality and culture, visual and spiritual aesthetics, impulsive movement and devout mood, individuality and public prestige, warmest colors and mysterious blue light, loud music and the accompanying communication of heart and soul, Tradition and modern technology. (Mu Lan, Deputy Director of the Gehua Cultural Development Group China, 2001, from: Gert Hof - Leasing the sky, Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2006, p. 18)
  • At such a mega event, the light is not there for the musicians on stage. It is meant for the city and the people. You light up a whole city. A culture and what it represents - and hope for the future. And I'm just happy that my music can be a part of it all. It's not like an ordinary rock and roll show - it's very special. ( Mike Oldfield , from: Gert Hof - Leasing the sky, Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2006, p. 12)
  • I have this longing for light in common with Gert Hof, in order to wrest new space from the darkness that has long given me nightmares. Because the many events that drew me into their flaming circle have even put my guardian angel Michael to flight too often ... Gert Hof is an artist, around whom the horror dreams also avoided and whose gaze repeatedly catches the light, the light in its hundred appearances. ( Mikis Theodorakis , from: Gert Hof - Leasing the sky, Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2006, p. 10)

All quotes from the books:

  • Gert Hof - Obsessions, The world's greatest light monuments. Eichborn Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2003, ISBN 3-8218-0746-6 .
  • Gert Hof - Leasing the sky, the greatest light monuments on earth. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-89602-738-7 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gert Hof. Rammstein's fireworker is dead. In: Berliner Morgenpost online. January 25, 2012. Retrieved January 25, 2012 .
  2. ↑ a b Deutsches Theater Berlin (Ed.): Program 1983/84. Berlin.
  3. ↑ Gert Hof asteris-kutulas.de.
  4. ↑ Gert Hof is dead. In: Theater der Zeit . January 27, 2012 (obituary).
  5. ↑ METALMESSAGE | Global PR (integrated Promotion Campaigns across print, online & broadcasting) | Management | Marketing |. Retrieved July 2, 2019 .
  6. ↑ Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz (ed.): Program booklet Schluck and Jau. Berlin.
  7. ↑ Volksbühne Archive (1983/1984 season).
  8. ^ Volksbühne Archive (1985/1986 season).
  9. ^ Henschel Verlag text book Paule Panke
  10. ↑ Henschel Verlag text book Nina, Nina, tam kartina ...
  11. ↑ Dirk Pilz: On the death of Ulrich Plenzdorf - Der Jugendversteher - night criticism.
  12. ↑ MOZ article: The absurd taken to extremes.
  13. ↑ a b Volksbühne Archive (1991/1992 season).
  14. ↑ Gerhard Ebert: Where the future lurks like an enemy. In: New Germany. April 3, 1992 (theater review).
  15. ^ Sibylle Burkert: Reference -  Edward Albee in Pfefferberg. In: The daily newspaper. October 10, 1992 (theater review).
  16. ↑ Archive of the State Theater (PDF).
  17. ↑ Heiner Müller Staging (PDF) p. 419.
  18. ↑ helnwein.de originally Süddeutsche Zeitung. Criticism.
  19. ↑ helnwein.de originally Germany radio criticism.
  20. ↑ helnwein.de originally Süddeutsche Zeitung .
  21. ↑ Την όπερα του Μίκη Θεοδωράκη, σε νέα ενορχήστρωση, θα διευθύνει ο Νίκος Τσούχλος στος σονλος στημ .
personal data
SURNAME Hof, Gert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German artist (light installations)
DATE OF BIRTH May 4th 1951
PLACE OF BIRTH Taucha near Leipzig
DATE OF DEATH January 24, 2012
Place of death Wandlitz , Brandenburg