Pirate TV
1990
Video, 00:32:00 min, 77 x 95 cm.
Materials: monitor, frame, dvd
Collection: Collection M HKA, Antwerp (Inv. no. BK007567).
Pirate TV shows grainy, black and white television footage on a television screen, framed in a cardboard version of a baroque, golden picture frame. Monroe started the Pirate TV project with fellow artists Timur Novikov and Yuris Lesnik in 1990. It was the first independent television station for artists in Moscow. Monroe was responsible for all scripts and acted out most of the roles. He took on the appearance of celebrities like Marilyn Monroe and president Kennedy, as well as more general characters like that of a television presenter. Famous individuals from richly diverse contexts and cultures are subject to Monroe's merciless, cynical and occasionally melancholy parodies.