< BACK

Impossible Conversations Claus Richter’s

„Little Helper“

interviews a Blade Runner Archivist.

Impossible conversations is dedicated to bringing together the most unexpected faces, ones that under normal circumstances wouldn’t have the chance to meet, and staging their imaginary dialogue. For our first conversation we imagined how Claus Richter’s „Little Helper“ would face his unavoidable future by confronting a fascinating figure exemplifying the artist’s own love for the Blade Runner universe.

Claus Richter | Living in another world | 2017 installation view

The „Little Helper“ came to life in Claus Richter’s 2017 show ‘Living in another world’ at Clages Gallery. A Blade Runner archivist is that tender figure in all of our hearts and brains, carefully collecting and organizing all those precious Blade Runner related moments.

This is how their Conversation went down.

L.H (Little Helper): I served them quit well. And that’s exactly what I will keep on doing. Cause I’m the Little Helper and my name says it all. “In a moment!! I’ll be there!”. But what do you do here anyway? What’s a Blade Runner Archivist? Why should I even trust you?

B.R.A (Blade Runner Archivist): I’m an Archivist, which basically means I take random things and put them together in draws, envelopes, bookcases and dusty old rooms so you can come back again and resurface them to your memory. You see enlisting and storing this kind of information is a quite difficult endeavour; one entailing the process of completing a sequence of neatly organised information that flows from one sector to the other. And it just so happens that whatever I collect and organize has to do with Blade Runner. Are you familiar with Blade Runner?

L.H: That’s fascinating! Of course I am, I love Blade Runner. I’m a robot at the end of the day, what did you expect. I saw the movie about 1000 times, I made a model house out of it, I was even in a fan club when I was younger, and went so far as to travel to see the actual film set in the US. It’s by far my all time favorite movie.

B.R.A: Well that’s great! So you can trust me! I mean no harm. I’m just here to help you. Cause you really seem like you could use an extra helping hand.

L.H: Truth be told I could really use some help. You see, I used to be a big strong robot. I used to be able to fly like the wind, to work as fast as possible or even process a vast amount of information in less than a minute. But now I’m just laying on this gallery floor with my insides all on the outside. Let’s just say I’ve seen some better days in my life.

B.R.A: Don’t worry about that. That’s exactly why I’m here. Travesty is solely the step-stone towards salvation. How about if I could help you sort all this chaos out?

L.H: I’d love that. You are really kind! But how could a Blade Runner Archivist assist me? An old dying robot.

B.R.A: The only thing you have to do, is trust me and everything could be solved. We could even manage to end this tonight. But the important thing is to lay all your cards on the table and trust me.

L.H: Ok, ok, I’ll trust you!

B.R.A: Well you see, that’s exactly what I do. I organize things, sort them out, one could say. So that people can revisit them anytime they want and relive the memories that they carried. Like Rachael’s long fur coat, or the amazing flying spinners, the giant LED billboards and even Rick’s Tie. And Prius’ nude jumpsuit, Dr. Tyrell’s Glasses and Zhoar’s plastic raincoat.

L.H: Ahhhh that could be awesome!

B.R.A: Yeah I really think that could be a suitable next step for you.

L.H: Well that sounds just like heaven! I would love to hang out with those guys!

B.R.A: Deal!

L.H: But wait. I’m a little scared.

B.R.A: Don’t be. There’s no reason to.

L.H: Are you sure?

B.R.A: Yes, of course I’m sure, there’s nothing for you to worry about. You only need to close your eyes and I’ll give you a kiss goodbye. Just one swift kiss and all will be over. It’s all gonna be over soon…

L.H: Really, really?

B.R.A: Absolutely positive! You see I wasn’t always an archivist, making sense out of the nonsense of this dreadful world. You see… I’ve seen things you wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. But now they won’t be! Cause I’m here to restore and organize them like one should. And there won’t be any more tears in the rain.

L.H: That sounds lovely.

B.R.A: It’s settled then. Come join our family. You’ll love it.

The Little Helper closed his eyes and turned his metal heart off. His body went colder by the second, but a big fat smile gradually formed on his face. The Archivist leaned over him. He took the precious little guy on his hands and gently laid a kiss on his right cheek.

He finally found his rightful place amongst both the humans as well as the replicants of the Blade Runner universe.