the darkness within
embracing the night
looking at unseen spots
traveling through black holes
I am inspired by the big and diverse symbolic capacity of the darkness, the night, the shadows and the unseen. BLACK , as the resulting absence or complete absorption of light, is often associated with our (emotional) darkness.
This art-pieces delve into that dark spaces and observes them as rich places of hidden potential. The blind spots we can’t see and mostly don’t even want to look at can hide however many treasures. Along my search for those treasures I experience my darkness, open new doors that confront myself with unexplored or unwanted territories that scare me. Although searching never ends, adventures, excitements, joy and courage define my life’s journey.
I worked on this topic in different medias: photographs and video, conceptual art, collages, installations and performance.
“The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.”
Joseph Campbell
nightshots
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ghana.
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bali.
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![alone in the darkness]()
thailand.
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![exploring lonlyness]()
india.
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![cold and warm]()
japan.
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![homebase]()
vienna.
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![ibusuki-minigolf. nightshot of the place where I was sleeping that night.]()
japan.
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laos.
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home.
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laos.
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laos.
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![cementary in japan at night]()
japan.
“Night never had the last word. The dawn is always invincible.”
Hugh B. Brown
facing my worst fears in my own underground, in my personal basement – to free myself and find the treasures
underground
exploring space underneath
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sewage water system in tokyo.
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basement of the arts school.
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alone in the seawage system.
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underground garage.
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underground tunnel in jerusalem.
black holes melting with reality
In this time of my life my reality was quite black. It was as if my reality melted with a huge black hole that I perceived inside and outside of myself. Having no choice but to express that darkness in my artistic work I was intruiged by every kind of holes and things that are hidden underneath the surface. I photographed dark spaces, basements and created long time exposures in the night. I started to see black holes in black textiles I encountered on the street and was excited about the idea that those black holes could be a door to another dimension.
“The message (…) is that black holes ain't as black as they are painted. They are not the eternal prisons they were once thought. Things can get out of a black hole, both to the outside, and possibly to another universe. So if you feel you are in a black hole, don't give up. There's a way out.”
Stephen Hawking
the black hole could also lead into nothingness or
emptiness
or its origin could be in a blank space
Me as a blank space in the family
and me as my own family
“There is no such thing as an empty space or an empty time. There is always something to see, something to hear. In fact, try as we may to make a silence, we cannot.”
John Cage
Glove Vendetta is a “recording and rebellion against a dark pattern”. Why is one often so defenceless towards oneself? This self- disempowerment consumes an incredible amount of power. The project consists of individual performative gestures that deal with the combative relationship with myself and form a complex conglomeration of sequences.
Vienna, 2015
fight
martial contact to oneself
Gauntlet instruction
- failure, throw the glove on the floor
- frown and hand gesture of ambiguity
- cough and introduce yourself
- pejorative glance & self-contempt
- uncertainty- wring- hands before the head
- breathe fast- FEAR
- silent scream and jump on Stand PANIC
- tear up the eyes and run away
- run against the wall and fall
- shake frantically at the door
- run out of the room PARANOIA
- knock after some time
may in tokyo, 30x40, 2017