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Videos
Drinking and Drowning
duration 8 minutes
Konzept
concept
Normally drinking of water follows short breaths (above a surface of water) during the drowning the
body or rather the head is submerged in liquid but mostly water. [Meyers Dictionary 1894]
What happens between drinking and drowning? What different perception of colours, movements and sounds arise underwater in relation to the above?
The constant moving water surface, which divides the underwater world and the world above and forms the space between drinking and drowning. In the first film I am up to my neck in water. The water level not only separated above and below, but also the body from the head.
What happens between drinking and drowning? What different perception of colours, movements and sounds arise underwater in relation to the above?
The constant moving water surface, which divides the underwater world and the world above and forms the space between drinking and drowning. In the first film I am up to my neck in water. The water level not only separated above and below, but also the body from the head.
From Overseas
duration 17 minutes
Konzept
concept
from overseas was created during the residency in Tasmania. The term is used for everything that does
not come from the island. I associate this term with memories of distant landscapes that keep appearing
and disappearing, much like Fata Morgana or mirage. The brief interaction between the landscape in my
memory and the one in reality produces a utopia for me: Tasthuringmania. The landscape that surrounded
my school vacations is located in Thuringia, a state that lies in the middle of Germany. The faded
pictures of my youth reflect a landscape intertwined with emotions, fantasies, and experiences. The
familiar scenery from home of forests, rolling pastures, and cultivated fields stirred up in me
profound feelings of sorrow, and with it an intense yearning to leave my native land: I simply could
not trust the seemingly idyllic existence here.
What's the connection between Thuringia and Tasmania, except that both happen to begin with the letter T?
What's the connection between Thuringia and Tasmania, except that both happen to begin with the letter T?
Insight Outside
Taiwan,2004
Konzept
concept
In der urbanen Hektik der taiwanesischen Millionenstadt Taipei sind die Fenster der schnell
gewachsenen Hochhauskolonien einzige Ruhepunkte Hier ist das fehlende Grün von Landschaft
durch vor die Fenster drapiertes Grün ersetzt worden. Wie kleine Gärten und Oasen
wirken die Blumentöpfe. Eine Überlebensstrategie im High-Speed-Urbanismus?
Exterra XX
video installation including 5 different videos on monitors, at the Akademie der Künste Berlin, loop 13 minutes, 2008
Konzept
concept
Exterra XX was a temporary feminist performance group originated in the alternative art scene of
East Germany of the 1980s. To connect lyric, sound, fashion, painting and movement with each
other and to defy monotonous socialist everyday life with cheeky staging resulted in stage bans.
The installation makes the energy and dynamism of the group and the individual vitality visually
tangible, which were reflected in the different performances. Sequences from former VHS recordings
were used for the video installation and produced to a new virtual performance.
Territory of Intimacy // Transcaucasian Identification
Video, DVD, color, duration 40:35 minutes, original with Englisch subtitles, 2009
Translation: Mkrtich Tonoyan, Katie Saunders; Sponsored by the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations and the German Embassy in Yerevan
Translation: Mkrtich Tonoyan, Katie Saunders; Sponsored by the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations and the German Embassy in Yerevan
Konzept
concept
Die armenische Bevölkerung ist bis heute durch den Genozid und die Vertreibungen
Anfang des 20. Jahrhunderts traumatisiert, von dem etwa jede zweite Familie betroffen
war. Vor dem Kollaps der Sowjetunion wurde unter dem Deckmantel der Diktatur nach
außen ein friedliches Zusammenleben zwischen den verschiedenen Ethnien behauptet.
Nach den Unabhängigkeitsbestrebungen der postsowjetischen Staaten traten jedoch die
Feindseligkeiten zutage, und brachen in Konflikte aus. Die Beziehung mit den
aserbaidschanischen und auch türkischen Nachbarn eskalierte und führte zu
Flüchtlingswellen. Seitdem sind die Grenzen geschlossen und eine Annäherung scheint
sehr schwierig zu sein. Ebenso scheint mir Armenien ein Land zu sein wo das
Festhalten an Traditionen, sichtbar im Rollenverhalten von Mann und Frau, das Leben
und den Alltag im Land wesentlich prägt, was für Westeuropäer antiquiert und
frauenfeindlich wirkt. Ich vermute, diese typischen Mann-Frau Beziehung ist ein Indiz der
armenischen Identität. Beide Aspekte, Patriarchat und Gewalt zwischen den Kulturen
scheinen mir dicht beieinander zu liegen. Um dieser Annahme nachzugehen habe ich in
Zusammenarbeit mit dem armenischen Künstler Mkrtich Tonoyan Video-Interviews mit
armenischen Flüchtlingen geführt, hauptsächlich Frauen, die seit mehreren
Generationen sowohl in einem monokulturellen als auch in einem multikulturellen Umfeld
in Aserbaidschan und Bergkarabach gelebt haben. Die Fragen bezogen sich auf ihre
Herkunft, Heimat, Familie, das (inter)kulturelle Zusammenleben, die Fluchtumstände,
das Erleben von Gewalt, die Ankunft in Armenien, ihre Hoffnungen. Aus den Antworten
geht hervor, dass Identitätssuche und Definitionen von Heimat bei Flüchtlingen und
Emigranten besonders ausgeprägt sind. Während der Interviews spürte ich bei einigen
befragten Personen einen gewissen männlichen Heroismus und Pathos, die scheinbar
mit dem Heimatbegriff stark verbunden sind. Allerdings zeigen sich auch
Widersprüchlichkeiten: Obwohl sie ArmenierInnen sind, sprachen viele der Befragten vor
der Flucht kein Armenisch, sondern nur Russisch und Aserbaidschanisch. Die
Traumatisierung ausgelöst durch die Massaker und die damit entstandene Feindseligkeit
hat sich über mehrere Generationen hinweg erhalten. Dadurch verbauen sich Lösungen
von Konflikten in dieser Region. Vielleicht braucht die Suche nach alternativen Lösungen
für ein friedliches multikulturelles Zusammenleben im Kaukasus noch eine Generation.
Die zusammengefassten Interviews habe ich in die Rubriken: homeland, place of origin,
citizenship refugee, ethnical coexistance, discrimination, expulsion, war, arrival, hope
eingeteilt.
Until today, the Armenian population has been traumatized by the genocide and
displacement in the beginning of 20th century, which directly affected one out of two
family. Before the Soviet Union collapsed, a peaceful coexistence of the different ethnic
groups had been claimed to the outside world and was argue in the cloak of dictatorship.
Yet, after the pursuits for independence of the post-Soviet states animosities emerged
and resulted in conflicts. The relations with the Azerbaijan and also Turkish neighbors
escalated and led to a wave of refugees. Since then, the borders have been closed and
rapprochement seems to be difficult.
At the same time, Armenia seems to be a country which hanging on to patriarchal structures and traditions - apparent in the role patterns of men and women – considerably marks everyday life in the country. I assume that this typical man-woman relationship is evidence for the Armenian identity. Both aspects, patriarchy and violence between the cultures, seem to me close in my opinion. To look into this assumption, I conducted video interviews of Armenians refugees with the Armenian artist Mkrtich Tonoyan - mainly with women who have lived in both mono-cultural and multicultural environments in Azerbaijan and Nagorno Karabakh. The questions referred to their origin, home, family, (inter) cultural coexistence, conditions of fight, experiencing violence, arriving in Armenia and their hopes. The answers reveal a strong occurrence of search for identity and definition of home among refugees and emigrants. During the interviews I could sense a certain male heroism and pathos in some of the interviewees, which seemed to be strongly connected to their idea of home. However, there were contradictions, too: even though they were Armenians, many of the interviewees did not speak Armenian prior to their escape but only Russian and Azeri.
The traumatic experience triggered by the massacre and the resulting animosity has been kept alive for several generations. Thus, there is no way of finding solutions for the conflicts in this region. Maybe one more generation is necessary to find an alternative solution for a peaceful multicultural coexistence in the Caucasus.
I summarized the interviews into the categories: homeland, place of origin, citizenship refugee, ethnical coexistence, discrimination, expulsion, war, arrival, hope.
At the same time, Armenia seems to be a country which hanging on to patriarchal structures and traditions - apparent in the role patterns of men and women – considerably marks everyday life in the country. I assume that this typical man-woman relationship is evidence for the Armenian identity. Both aspects, patriarchy and violence between the cultures, seem to me close in my opinion. To look into this assumption, I conducted video interviews of Armenians refugees with the Armenian artist Mkrtich Tonoyan - mainly with women who have lived in both mono-cultural and multicultural environments in Azerbaijan and Nagorno Karabakh. The questions referred to their origin, home, family, (inter) cultural coexistence, conditions of fight, experiencing violence, arriving in Armenia and their hopes. The answers reveal a strong occurrence of search for identity and definition of home among refugees and emigrants. During the interviews I could sense a certain male heroism and pathos in some of the interviewees, which seemed to be strongly connected to their idea of home. However, there were contradictions, too: even though they were Armenians, many of the interviewees did not speak Armenian prior to their escape but only Russian and Azeri.
The traumatic experience triggered by the massacre and the resulting animosity has been kept alive for several generations. Thus, there is no way of finding solutions for the conflicts in this region. Maybe one more generation is necessary to find an alternative solution for a peaceful multicultural coexistence in the Caucasus.
I summarized the interviews into the categories: homeland, place of origin, citizenship refugee, ethnical coexistence, discrimination, expulsion, war, arrival, hope.
The Formosa Experiment
first version: trailer in collaboration with Yin-Ru Chien, duration 3:50 minutes, 2010
Konzept
concept
GesprÄch mit Dingen
in collaboration with Yingmei Duan, duration 3:40 minutes, 2010
Konzept
concept
Nonverbale groteske, poetische, melancholische Beziehung zwischen Menschen und
Gegenständen und zwischen Realität und Imagination. Es ist nicht nur eine Konversation
mit Dingen, sondern auch zwischen (ost) asiatischer und (west) europäischer Kultur und
deren Differenzen.
Drinking and Drowning
From Overseas
Insight Outside
Exterra XX
Territory of Intimacy // Transcaucasian Identification
The Formosa Experiment
Gespräch mit Dingen