sunWorks at Bauhaus Dessau

Von der Sonne gezeichnet

Die Bilderserie des Solarzeichners dokumentiert den 7. September 2015 und lässt Rückschlüsse auf die jeweilige Lichtintensität zum Zeitpunkt der Zeichnungserstellung schließen. Das erste Bild von 8 Uhr morgens, sowie das letzte Bild um 18 Uhr zeigen nur vier schwarze Punkte, da die Sonneneinstrahlung zu schwach war, um das vierfüßige Zeichengerät über das Papier zu bewegen. Alle anderen Bilder, besonders die zur Mittagzeit entstandenen, zeigen dynamischere Strukturen.

How did art get started?

No one knows who created the first image or where it originated. Today the world is full of images created by artists who want to bequeath a part of themselves to infinity. It will be interpreted and passed on and re-interpreted and passed on ... the whole of written history is based on such individual selection.

In a figurative sense one can also imagine the following scene: several people are sitting in a circle; one of them thinks up a sentence and whispers it in his neighbour’s ear. This person whispers the sentence to his neighbour just the way he or she understood it, until in the end it returns - miraculously transformed - to the author. This game, popular at children's birthday parties, is known by the name Chinese Whispers.

In general, we are visually oriented. But, as a result, shouldn´t we ask ourselves whether all the traditional images that make up our culture are actually an expression of artistic authenticity? Aren´t they just links in an infinite chain of visual tradition, in the course of which they inevitably change, like the whispered sentence……… similar to the numerous portraits lining the walls of “Fischmüllers Kabinett für außerordentliche Erfahrungen” under the title Chinese Whispers.  

True to the annual motto The beginning is the end is the beginning is the end is the beginning ... this series of images begins and ends with a portrait of Barbara Müller and Alexandra Centmayer, who initiated this exhibition collectively. They sent an image of their face to an artist friend in Iceland, who imitated their facial expression and in turn sent his own photo to an artist friend … and so on.

This way the image travelled - each time newly interpreted and photographed - via Copenhagen, Oslo and New York almost around the world until in the end it arrived back at Fischmüllers. Each artist involved in the series only knew the direct previous image, the emotion of which he interpreted and transposed individually. As the artists involved were dealing with their own creative ego in the photos, these contain more than just the particular interpretation of what was seen. A certain degree of self-dramatization was thus inevitable. Besides, here and there it is likely that the imagery was influenced by current events.

However, it is surprising that the beginning and the end of this series of images do not vary all that widely. Particularly since a face reflects the emotional, mental and physical constitution of a person, which in turn meets its counterpart´s individual interpretation and - depending on his own state - can be evaluated differently or even misunderstood. Nevertheless, in the end the individual face seems to merge into the whole, just as if there was some kind of universal expression.

To carry this experience even further, the brochure was designed as a flipbook. The visual shift of perception from image to image is performed in rapid succession and turns into a tactile experience. The exhibition will be accompanied by a happening, where artists and visitors meet in whispers, providing the acoustic aspect of the exhibitions’s title.

The art event itself is therefore divided into three sections incorporating acoustic and haptic elements alongside the purely visual experience. The initial role allocation between artist and observer is set in motion, causing a lively exchange to arise. This finely etched network of acoustic and visual perception and active (in this case, whispering) participation is an essential component of Fischmüller´s basic concept which always leaves room for the unexpected; the audience becomes part of an unforeseen,  fathomless - to wit extraordinary experience.

Dr. Friederike Zimmermann