Gottfried Helnwein | PRESS | English Press | JOHANN KRESNIK'S THE RING IN BONNDer Ring II, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung, Opera Bonn

In February 2008 Kresnik presented the final production of his ensemble, based on Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen cycle, in Berlin. Kresnik's Ring was created in collaboration with the painter and scenic designer Gottfried Helnwein, who expresses himself in his works of art just as politically as Kresnik. This is apparent with the poster to the production, which was also created by Helnwein: the head of an exhausted child lying in a pool of blood, overwhelmed by a heap of Euro coins. Kresnik and Helnwein argue on the topics power and money, force and war.


		01. April 2008 Western European Stages Genia Enzelberger JOHANN KRESNIK'S THE RING IN BONN The Ring was created in collaboration with the painter and scenic designer Gottfried Helnwein In February 2008 Kresnik presented the final production of his ensemble, based on Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen cycle, in Berlin. Kresnik's Ring was created in collaboration with the painter and scenic designer Gottfried Helnwein, who expresses himself in his works of art just as politically as Kresnik. This is apparent with the poster to the production, which was also created by Helnwein: the head of an exhausted child lying in a pool of blood, overwhelmed by a heap of Euro coins. Kresnik and Helnwein argue on the topics power and money, force and war.


		Kresnik and Helnwein's "ring," a gilded automobile tire, descends at the end of the piece. An automobile cemetary appears, dominated by a gilded Cadillac upstage. The contents of a large refrigerator, which has hung over the stage since the beginning, pour out over the scene, suggesting the products of Weimar as material for ongoing consumer culture.