*1967 in Kassel D, lives in Berlin D
Studium an der studied at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste, Hamburg D
und and am at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, London UK
Exhibitions [Selection]
2008 Videovisionen, Edith-Ruß-Haus für Medienkunst, Oldenburg D
2007 Define Violence, Senko Art Space, Viborg DK
2006 Reflections on a Brave New World, Berlinale, Berlin D
2004 Sommerfrische, Kunsthalle Hamburg D
Whitechapel Open Screening, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London UK
Staircase
The video Staircase features images of a spiral staircase built by the renowned Brazilian architect Oskar Niemeyer in the city of Brasilia. An inner monologue whose theme is a personal, idealized vision of life in the tropics is superimposed on the image. It is accentuated by apparently random, brief intervals of ocean sounds. The viewer is encouraged to read the dreamy text, which has a hypnotic effect. This also allows the reader to adapt to the tempo of the text in order to follow the flow of imagination. These visualized thoughts convey a romantic image of the tropics, underscoring generalized, stereotypical, and glorified ideas of them. However, by creating a disparity between the image and the sound, the video withholds this romanticism, because the artist contrasts the white beaches and sunshine with Niemeyer´s modernist, functionalist architecture. The text tells of an alluring, exotic, distant place, while the image merely shows a piece of unadorned urban architecture. Using minimal means, the artist creates a kind of internal disquiet in the viewer. Yet, on closer observation, the contrast makes this seem excessive and out of touch with reality. Here, the viewer´s expectations - his or her stereotypical methods of perception and wishful thinking - are first built up and then exposed.
Tamara Könen
1281998657 CET