In an undefined space and timeless state, we circle around two faceless avatars from changing perspectives. Who – or what – are they? Projections of real people, intelligent machines, or something in between? Can machines develop desires, dreams? A golden apple floats between them, its reflective surface expanding the real space. All their efforts revolve around the golden apple – and yet it remains out of reach.
A real existing space runs through a “what-if” of infinite possibilities, thought up by me, visualised by an artificial intelligence. This work was produced for the event “…WILL BE EATEN BY THE RAVENS” at the Stadttheater Neuburg a.d.Donau (16.06.2024). This video was accompanied by a live performance of the piece Nocturne by Lili Boulanger (for flute and harp).
2025, Video with sound, trailer 1:59 min
Forces of nature mingle with landmarks of civilization and do not depict glorified places of longing. In the frenzy of speed, the moment evaporates and yet always returns – like the seasons.
All the videos are looped – without beginning or end, and seemingly endless – like the return of the seasons or the collective murmuring of a rosary.
Following on from the romantic landscapes of the 19th century, this video cycle in 4 parts shows landscapes of the 21st century, oscillating between real and artificial.
Spring, 3:21 min — Spring is dawning, but nature has not yet awoken – bare trees pass by. Here and there a car. Memories echo in the distance.
Autumn, 3:11 min — Rain pattering on a window. The landscape behind it seems strangely alive. Is it breathing? Is it raging? A harbinger of imminent death – in winter!
Summer, 4:24 min — A sandstorm bathes the passing landscape in warm yellow. Beautiful and terrible. Terribly beautiful.
Winter, 10 min — “Home” passes by. Will it come again? The monotonous rolling noise on the old railroad tracks makes you sleepy, and a white oblivion covers your thoughts.
“We all carry a dead child within us.“ Christian Boldtanski quotes Tadeusz Kantor
We move through an abandoned house. The rooms bear witness to the fact that people once lived here. Reality and fiction, present and past merge together. As if in a nightmare, we rush through the rooms and are repeatedly confronted with an old class photo. On the back of the real photo is written: “Class of 1911.” Who were these people? Does anyone still remember them? I lend them my eyes and bring them back to life post mortem – an artificial liveliness.
The video work ties in with a tradition that is largely forgotten today: post-mortem photography. In this practice, the recently deceased were photographed, either alone as a portrait or together with relatives, arranged as if they were still alive. These images served not only as a memento, but also as an attempt to halt the moment of disappearance.
Sitting among these children, I act as a link between yesterday and today and think aloud about the fear of disappearing. By inscribing myself into the historical class photo, I transfer the tradition of post-mortem photography into a contemporary, digital visual language. The work reveals how images – then as now – are used to outwit transience: they preserve presence, create a deceptive liveliness, and shift the moment of farewell into a timeless in-between.
Sandbox is on the one hand a sandy playground for children, on the other hand a term originating from software development for an “isolated area within which any action has no effect on the external environment”. (Wikipedia)
We are sitting in a large virtual sandbox that is anything but isolated. There are many toys in it that we don’t know what they are for. And new ones are added every day. We explore them playfully and in the process we come up with ideas – good or bad….
One such toy is Dall-e 2, one of the most celebrated AIs of 2022, which can create realistic images and even artwork from a text-based description in natural language. This creative act is new and unique, and must be judged as the next stage of evolution.
The works Dall-e generates are almost perfect, and yet she generates strangely disturbing outputs in response to seemingly innocuous keywords. It begs the question, is this the toy we would give our children?
Based on the work Conditio Humana I, the question of what the conditio humana is is continued here. If we consider the highest art form of human movement – dance – it is a combination of absolute body control, elegance and emotionality. This is contrasted here with a “dance” by the humanoid robot HRP-4C, as it was presented to the world public in 2010.
Dancer: Dominik Feistmantl
Dancer: Dominik Feistmantl
“People take photos of each other
To prove that they really existed
To make sure they are there
People take photos of each other
Believing that those moments
Would stay alive for all time”
Excerpt from: Menschen Machen Fotos gegenseitig, Die goldenen Zitronen (Songtext)
“Come,O death, you brother of sleep,
come and lead me away from here;
release my little ship’s rudder,
bring me to a safe harbour!”
from: Johann Sebastian Bach Kreuzstabkantate, BWV56
The beauty of life and its antropogenic death.
