Referencing, copying and adaptation are all around us, however our need for authenticity and uniqueness is bigger than ever. No matter where you look, we are surrounded by all kinds of great ideas. Yet when we do our work, most of us ignore them. Instead, our egos force us to re-invent the wheel, over and over again. As if we want to state: ‘it’s only ME that came up with all of this. I thought of this, and no one else.’ However, if there is a perfectly fine wheel available, why would you put all that time and effort in reinventing it again? There are so many great ideas already there, just waiting to be used.
‘Same, Same But Different’ challenges the taboo of using the same idea twice. Over 3 years, Max Siedentopf sent a series of ideas in the shape of drawings and short descriptions to over 50 international photographers to quite literally photograph the same idea.
In our constant hunt for unique ideas and authenticity, we often forget that execution matters just the same. Maybe even more.
‘Same, Same But Different’ illustrates that having the same starting point (an idea) actually emphasizes the artist’s own interpretation in the various end results. So let’s be open to both new and old ideas, because if you look hard enough you’ll find that everything has been done before. Don’t let that discourage you!
The idea is just the start.
Max Siedentopf (1991) is a Berlin based multi-disciplinary conceptual artist working across video, photography, sculpture, creative direction and everything in-between and is the founder of the of the art publication ORDINARY. From 2013 - 2020 Max Siedentopf has been creative director of the 'legendary and unorthodox" creative agency KesselsKramer, which was founded in 1996 by the dutch artist Erik Kessels, and is the only one that has worked at all three offices and becoming the youngest partner at age 25. In 2019 Galerie Kernweine exhibited Max Siedentopf's series ”Stock Im Arsch”.
March 2020
Edition of 500
14,8 x 21cm
Max has been described by Vogue Italy as viral artist and his installation “Toto Forever” was included in artnet’s “10 Extraordinary Artworks You Need to Travel to the Edge of the World to See” next to Elmgreen & Dragset’s ‘Prada Marfa’, Yayoi Kusama’s ‘Yellow Pumpkin’ and Le Corbusier’s ‘Notre Dame du Haut’.
In June 2019, Siedentopf starred in the music video for “Mine Right Now”, a song by Norwegian singer Sigrid Max was supposed to direct. This was due to Sigrid’s flight being cancelled, the singer therefore being unable to appear in the video herself and Max ended up starring in instead.
Next to this he is the founder of Ordinary Magazine which was nominated for Magazine Of The Year, Best Art Direction and Best use of Photography by the Stack Awards. For his Gommi “Psychosis” music video he was awarded the “Most Bizarre Video” at the Berlin Music Video Awards and was also nominated Best New Director at the UKMVAs.