In my work I focus on the concepts of ambiguities and virtual dislocation (or dislocation of the mind); and the ‘gray zones’ in public and private notions of fundamental truths.
Central to all this is the questioning of truth, and reflections on the personal and social sensitivities for constructing belief and value systems (both on an individual level and on the public consensus level). I’m interested in the norms we are typically raised and educated with but do not necessarily hold their ground in the long run. Moving from Europe to the US made me even more susceptible to these observations. Not because of the physical dislocation but because of the "virtual dislocation" – a dislocation of the mind - forcing one to (re)evaluate in order to adjust to a new consensus. To do this, I see people turn to religion, the law, other social groups, or they may have a more individual notion of self. I'm wondering to what extent people just choose what they want to belief (in order to fit in and make their life easier) and not because their belief is actually true.
I dismiss the notion of truth as static concept but rather consider it a fluctuating idea in time and space. This is nothing new - the Greek philosophers already discovered different "truths" within the different city states in ancient Greece. Though at the time this may have been promoted by the lack of interaction between the different entities, what about our society anno 2011? The world has become a much smaller place with the help of vast communication infrastructures and international travel - the latter even further enhanced by open borders in some places. Yet, there are still so many different truths out there, and, unfortunately, lack of understanding or respect for their diversity; because "the truth" as dynamic concept appears to be a threatening issue for the majority ...
To translate some of these issues into my work I have taken to both still and video camera while using both abstract and realistic imagery - though there is always some level of abstraction present. I formally started out with light manipulations to create a second life or alter ego for ordinary objects such as yarn, scotch tape, ice, water etc. The result may either represent or mislead the inherent nature of the original subject. This was intended as a quite literal translation of the allegory of Plato's Cave and a following of his lead on the questioning of truth.
The notion of gray zones allows me to use a minimal color palate with at times blurry and/or white-out imagery. I embrace these aspects to create a notion of non-space in my work where I have many questions and few answers. In later work I started incorporating layered imagery which led to new interpretations of the original visuals and my notion of veiled truths.
Because photography was at the base of my first videos I developed a substantial body of large-scale work consisting of digital video stills on paper. Just recently the still work has increasingly developed its own voice as well. My favorite lens became the Holga lens (both on the original Holga camera as well as attached to my DSLR). I am attracted to the uncontrollability of its outcome, as well as the extra layer of ambiguity it adds to an otherwise straight photograph. The imagery feels more cinematic and suggests a less realistic context surrounding the chosen subject matter. The Holga allows me to document a new reality for a generally classified and typically easily recognizable image.
- Sieglinde (2011)
home
recent video
older video
digital prints
photo-polymer
installations
