Vincula
Basic information
Project Title
Vincula
Category
Prioritising the places and people that need it the most
Project Description
In the project, fine mist hovers over the foundations of the former buildings of the Gross-Rosen concentration camp, sometimes fainter, sometimes more clearly visible. Double exposures of models on photos of the remains are used to mark the areas of the different premises of the camp and reconstruct the cubatures of the prison rooms.
Geographical Scope
Local
Project Region
Legnica, Germany
Urban or rural issues
Mainly rural
Physical or other transformations
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
EU Programme or fund
No
Description of the project
Summary
The theme of my work is the critical examination of the history and present of Nazi crime scenes in Silesia. The work will focus on the question of the extent to which the design and safeguarding of material remains can be a form of remembrance and what content-related goals could be achieved in the artistic appropriation of structural relics. The aim of the project is to give the legacies in Silesa an imaginable spatial existence by emphasizing spatial cubatures of historical places. Only in the context of site-specific marking does a space become a site of representation of a historically relevant event that can contribute to a social interest. Even if the building structures of the camp sites cannot be preserved in perpetuity, they may never really disappear in spatial, historical, and social perception. So what happens when photography constructs a reality by suggesting the presence of things that have disappeared and proposing new connections to past events through its possibilities of abstraction? And how can the staging of relics and the socio-political implications for dealing with history be related? Behind the narrative energy emanating from these legacies, a new reality is to emerge with the use of volume models. In this way, for example, the room of the Wetterstelle in the Groß-Rosen concentration camp have already been reconstructed and placed in perspective on the foundation walls of the prison on a smaller scale. The models of the individual rooms are aligned in perspective in such a way that the viewers can reconstruct the connection between inside and outside and get a feeling for the place.
Key objectives for sustainability
Depending on which narratives are used, concrete places can be ascribed meanings. Here I also address the question of whether memory can be spatially recorded. Concrete historical places, which have been superimposed over decades, are to be linked with the subjective perception of a "landscape". In this work, the largest camp in Silesia will be artistically explored. In the artificial clouds created by superimposing photographs, I see not only the effect of making visible a space of memory in an absent field. What is at stake here, in my eyes, is not so much the function of the created forms and "spaces" in the sense of enclosed interiors that say, "Here it was and is no more..." but a much larger operative movement in the landscape around it, a rearrangement of axes in the landscape around these objects that conversely look out onto these spaces. This material strategy does not reconstruct what once was, but defines a horizontal surface that remains negotiable in its visibility.
Key objectives for aesthetics and quality
Through my artistic approach, I try to show what once was and at the same time emphasises what is no longer. In this way, I reflect with my work the perception of places steeped in history and encourages us to think about the the versatility of the representation of architectural relics. In addition to the complex historical facts from the time of Nazi Germany, the project is also dedicated to the material traces and the loss of a cultural heritage.
Key objectives for inclusion
The exchange is based on the experiences of the artist residency in Tarczyn near Wleń (Lähn) in Lower Silesia in the summer of 2023. The project aims to promote young artists (up to the age of 35) from Saxony and Lower Silesia who are interested in themes of remembrance culture in the German-Polish context and to bring them into dialogue with each other. As neighbouring regions, Lower Silesia and Saxony (especially Upper Lusatia) have been in contact and related to each other for centuries. For most of this time, Lower Silesia also belonged to the German-dominated linguistic and cultural area. Only the historical upheavals and upheavals of the 20th century created a new interface here with the shifting of borders and the exchange of populations, which can also spark artistic potential. The history of the Lower Silesia region and the resulting cultural, national and social interdependencies, which constantly overlap here, thus form the starting point for the artistic and scientific W/E LAB activities of young people.
How Citizens benefit
For the local Polish society, identity issues and the memory of the resettlement are important topics that have not yet been sufficiently researched, but which are talked about within their own four walls and cultivated in the traditions they have brought with them. In particular, former East Polish customs, which play an important role in the memory of the resettlement, are cultivated and refreshed. What is forgotten, however, is the German history of the places and traditions, which are slowly disappearing or are increasingly being absorbed by the immigrant population and the younger generations.
Physical or other transformations
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
Innovative character
The starting point of my projects are often the represented traces of material legacies. The aim is to reveal the remaining structures of historical places by making something new. Based on the relics, a new reality is to be created through the use of constructed models. The spatial volume of the different areas of an architectural complex are reconstructed in a reduced scale and placed in perspective so that the viewer recognizes the connection between inside and outside.
Disciplines/knowledge reflected
The project is dedicated to topics such as memory, identity of the place, especially Lower Silesia, German-Polish relations, transnationality and participatory design. The extremely rich history of the region as well as the cultural, national and social interdependencies that constantly overlap here form the starting point for the artistic and scientific activities that will be carried out during the residency.
Methodology used
The Project shows reconstructions of spaces in the former concentration camp Groß-Rosen in Rogoźnica near Legnica. The starting point for my work is formed by the foundation walls of buildings. I visit these places and photographs them. Based on the foundations, I build volume models of the former cells, fills them with smoke or wraps them in fabric. With the help of the model body, I want to illustrate central, recurring functional spaces in its concrete physical extension. closed object a haptic, tangible aesthetic. These concrete physical spaces capture the real value and take it as a starting point for an immediate dialogue between interior and exterior. The models at the center are intended to make the presence of the concrete space tangible on a visual level. The presence of the space remains fictitious through the use of the image carrier. This model body is meant to leave the connection open and loose and stands recognizable in its materiality.
How stakeholders are engaged
The work was created as a participant in the W/E LAB Residency. This programme is a one-year project for visual artists, which introduced a residency programme at the FLOWLAND estate in Tarczyn (near Wleń). In collaboration with local partners, a total of two one-month residencies were organised for six artists of Polish, German and Ukrainian origin from the Lower Silesia and Saxony regions.
Global challenges
What happens when photography itself constructs a reality by suggesting the presence of things that have disappeared and proposing new connections to past events through its possibilities of abstraction?
By recognising recurring features in the design of structural relics, perspectives can open up that enable us to describe historical places in a different way than the mere depiction of their history of use suggests. Even if the material remains cannot be preserved in perpetuity, they will never really disappear in spatial, historical, social and political perception. But how can the staging of the relics from the Nazi era and the socio-political effects on the way history is dealt with be related?
By recognising recurring features in the design of structural relics, perspectives can open up that enable us to describe historical places in a different way than the mere depiction of their history of use suggests. Even if the material remains cannot be preserved in perpetuity, they will never really disappear in spatial, historical, social and political perception. But how can the staging of the relics from the Nazi era and the socio-political effects on the way history is dealt with be related?
Learning transferred to other parties
During the W/E LAB residency, I spent almost a month exploring local history and developing a corresponding artistic programme for audiences in Görlitz, Legnica, Wrocław and Tarczyn. The programme will be developed in collaboration with the curator. The activities carried out can be an important contribution to archiving the intangible culture of this unique area and an important starting point for further cultural activities within the framework of German-Polish relations. They can deepen the awareness of the history of this area, the ties between people and the reappraisal of post-war issues.
Keywords
Heritage
History
Remembrance
Reconstruction
Memorial
