Jordan Strafer

Dissonance marks the first institutional solo exhibition of Jordan Strafer in Germany. Based on her ongoing film series Loophole (since 2023), Strafer transforms the exhibition space at Fluentum into a surreal talk show studio situated in the afterlife. This studio serves as the set for a newly commissioned work that connects the series' narrative to the postwar period. Embedded in the Loophole universe yet conceived as a standalone work, the film is partially shot during the exhibition opening, in front of a live audience, and features New York-based actor Jim Fletcher in the lead role.

Set against the backdrop of a fictionalized high-profile rape trial in 1990s Florida, Loophole draws on the visual language of erotic thrillers and the spectacle of televised courtroom proceedings. Strafer weaves together film scripts, local news coverage, reality TV, and publicly available courtroom records. By blending historical and popular material from the aftermath of World War II to the turn of the millennium, Loophole unfolds as a trans-historical exploration of justice, media culture, and the shaping of public perception.

In Dissonance the series' first two chapters Loophole (2023) and Decadence (2024) are presented for the first time as a continuous film, expanded through sculptural and architectural interventions. A site-specific installation resembling a 1990s talk show set, along with the accompanying public program, links the narrative of the films and the postwar history of Fluentum, a repurposed NS military complex that served as the headquarters of the U.S. Army in Central Europe from 1945 to 1994. This layering of historical contexts anticipates the third and final chapter of Loophole, currently in development and also to be produced by Fluentum.