Evil Knievel
Think Positive postgraduate me, an offer of further education, 2007; installation, mixed media, 2007
His
amazing death-defying jumps over cars and canyons and the dangerous
accidents that resulted from them in which Evel Knievel narrowly
escaped death more than once, laid the foundations for his status as a
super-human hero – a daredevil, in Knievel’s words – powered by virtues
like ambition and dedication plus the conviction that even failure
should be seen as a chance.
“The people I want to hear about are the people who take risks.” In his
predominantly white costume with its red and blue trims, Knievel
stylised himself as the incarnation of America and embodied – perhaps
not least because of this ‘white’ costume – what it meant to be
‘successful’. Not only as a hero of the thrill show genre, which he
helped to make so popular, but also as a public figure Knievel was a
focus of attention and he was never afraid to use his popularity to
serve a good cause.
In an appearance designed especially for
the exhibitions in Dortmund and Berlin, Evil Knievel will consider a
specific aspect of modern motivation strategies. Goal setting through
re-enactment – this is the American catchphrase – serves as a guideline
for his appearance. As a special form of re-enactment that is not only
practised in American schools and the U.S. Army, Evil Knievel presents
a central technique of self-motivation, which also was critical for his
own career: identification with a successful idol. “For identification
with a successful model can be an important factor in someone breaking
out of the confines of their inferiority complexes and fear of failure,
which cause them to remain in an enduring negative state of mind. A
successful technique for improving your world is identification with a
symbol that is an inspiration to make the right decisions.” For the
exhibition a special new issue of the fanzine Being Evil Knievel (No.3,
2007) will be published.
Inke Arns
“Death is a tough competitor, I beat him many times.” With these words
the American stuntman Evel Knievel describes his career and established
the myth of a death defying daredevil. In the mid-1960s he toured under
the name Evel Knievel and His Motorcycle Daredevils, and quickly became
world-famous through his spectacular motorcycle jumps across parked
cars and buses. Not less spectacular were the crashes that followed
most of his stunts, such as his attempt to jump over the fountain of
Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas with his motorbike or his attempt to jump
over the Snake River Canyon with his skycycle, a self-constructed
rocket bolid. He is said to have had more than 35 broken bones during
his career. This is an ultimate record which did not only secure him a
listing in the Guinness Book of Records but laid the foundation for his
fame as a man who never surrenders.
Inke Arns
... back
