Alex Vermeulen
Since the early eighties, Alex Vermeulen's work has been characterized by an examination of the relationship between visual art and film. During the period 1980 to 1984 he combined film, visual art (including sculptures, installations) and live performances of music in multimedia projects, such as "Do not title the Symphonies". After 1982 he produced what he referred to as 'filmbooks': film scenarios into which he incorporated film stills that were a supplement to rather than an illustration of the text. In a visual manner, by way of film stills and drawings, the existence of a fictitious film was suggested. This film was never actually produced however. The suggestion of a real film appealed to the imagination; visual art became film.

After six filmbooks Vermeulen closed this chapter of his work in 1996 with a presentation at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. It was on this occasion that his sixth filmbook was published under the title Fuga Futuri; this contains a catalogue which provides a survey of all the projects up to that point. The book includes an introduction by Rudi Fuchs, a background-related text by Philip Peters and an essay by IJsbrand van Veelen. For the 'Fuga Futuri' project Vermeulen invited various international filmmakers to give their personal responses on a number of themes (e.g. time, cycles, wonder, balance, lies and truth) that have shaped his work over the years. These statements are also included in the catalogue.

The artist's point of view
At present Vermeulen has marked the beginning of a new period with States of Humanity. This involves an extensive project in which different forms of the medium of film are examined in relationship to visual art. The theme is centered around life in a big city. Vermeulen explains his point of departure and motivation for this project as follows:

A characteristic of my artistry has been, from the very start, the combination of diverse disciplines such as film, music, visual art an photography in the realization of my projects. These contemporary media, which moreover include television, the Internet and the CD-ROM, offer an almost limitless palette of (new) possibilities.

As new forms of communication arise, new views with respect to art are constantly generated as well. In various genres of pop music, for instance, samples ('quotes') are combined with the additions of the artist: a collage-like way of working that ultimately yields new, autonomous works. Disc jockeys have become composers of music collages, and video jockeys act as composers of image collages. One could call this method of responding to quotes a new, interactive form of communication.

These developments are not limited solely to the realm of pop culture. They reflect, in a more general sense, a present-day attitude of quick adaptation to continual change. Within contemporary society, boundaries are becoming less distinct and standards are changing at a fast rate as a result of the rapid exchange of information and the constant production of new media for communication.

My concern is specifically for the consequences of this social evolution: what happens to social structures, social codes, modes of behavior; how do moral decay and decency relate to each other, what are acceptable role models, what happens to the relationship between the individual and society? Questions like these are brought up in my works. This project holds countless contemporary developments by way of its form and content. States of Humanity can be regarded as an art form of an interactive nature and a broad social scope, one which is accessible to a wide audience via diverse media (book, film, television, Internet, CD-ROM, exhibition).

STATES OF HUMANITY (SOH)
S O H is a large-scale project by the Dutch artist Alex Vermeulen following his solo exhibition Fuga Futuri at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam in 1996. S O H focuses on life in a metropolis and is made up of diverse, autonomous parts: an exhibition, an architectural film, a 3D video/audio installation, a documentary film, a performance and a book. The different parts will be presented at various locations and can also be seen at the SOH website (www.syndicaat.org). The keywords for this project are: communication and information, interaction and reaction through both conventional and modern media.

Urban life
As a starting point Vermeulen has created six sculptures based on urban conditions. They act as metaphors for such human themes as power, religion, violence, reflection, spirituality, individualism, sexuality and perception. The sculptures were shown to people who were asked to react from their own point of view and individual position, and thus outline their vision of life in the big city.

Together with editor IJsbrand van Veelen and designer Goodwill, Vermeulen compiled a book. This presents the six sculptures together with the reactions of the philosophers Arthur Danto and Richard Shusterman, filmmaker Lodge Kerrigan, author Robert Greene, architect Greg Lynn, choreographer Ron Bunzl, the writing team of Martin and Annette Meyers and the composer David Shea. The resulting essays form the basis of Vermeulen´s computer-manipulated photo works, which are also in the book.

States of Humanity is a total artwork in which each participant makes a subjective contribution. The various facets of the project are created as a consequence of each other, but also independently of each other in harmony or disharmony - seemingly without any connection or closely linked, just like life in a metropolis.