splendid isolation – Silvia Lorenz & Katharina Lüdicke, C.I.A.T. Berlin, 18.4.-3.5.2015

extrem klein, extrem entfernt, extrem beengt

unter Druck, unter Wasser, außerirdisch

Under the usual conditions of gravity at least the tiptoes divide the human body from outer space. How effectively one can  fence off this general environment or exist independently, depends on – among other things – how long you can survive dehydrated. The perfect escape from the world requires an extraordinary achievement, which is normally closely linked with disappearance – meaning flying off, immersion or death.

Dreams of a splendid isolation dreamt in the 19th century – and dreams again and again – the United Kingdom. The same seeks a dropout of the 21st century. The “public goodbye” can happen by going into hiding or distancing, but it must at least be perceived as an absence. Exactly such gaps and cracks can become keyholes later.

Silvia Lorenz, break on through, 2015 (video still)

Katharina Lüdicke, Splendid Isolation, 2015 (Detail der Installation)

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splendid isolation

extremely small, extremely distant, extremely tight
under pressure, underwater, extraterrestrial
invisible, untouchable, undefiled

Under normal gravity conditions at least the tiptoes divide the human body from the full immersion into the universe. How effectively one can fence off this generic environment or exist independently, depends on – among other things – how long one can survive dehydrated.

In 2007 the ESA tested for the first time how some species of the apparently indestructible Tardigrade are able to survive – in dehydrated form – even in the absolute vacuum of outer space and exposed to cosmic radiation. The reason for this ability is unknown and remains under investigation. Humans could maybe learn from such exemplary astronauts in order to pursuit their own cosmic dreams.

But solely the prospect of a water bear floating in space to replace the palingenesis in the last scene of Kubrick’s Space Odyssey, accompanied by Richard Strauss’ Also sprach Zarathustra, appears to be a poetic parody more than scientific update.

The perfect escape from the world requires an extraordinary achievement, which is normally closely linked with the act of disappearing – meaning flying away, submersion or passing away.
Dreams of a splendid isolation dreamt in the 19th century – and dreams again and again – the United Kingdom. A dropout of the 21st century longs for the same escape. The “public goodbye” can happen by going into hiding or distancing, but it must at least be perceived as an absence. Exactly such gaps, cracks and remnants can turn into physic or metaphoric keyholes.

Loopholes and way-outs can become architectonic translations for these needs, as a chance to back out of the public gaze or opinion and to hide away behind the scenery as into a shell. The classic Greek theatre presents itself as a place for the public self-reflection by shaping an acoustic and optic sphere due to its architectural peculiarities.

This form of theatre enables – according to Peter Sloterdijk – “not a personal process […| of introspective self-observation like on an intimate stage and thinking that one is thinking that one is thinking that one is thinking… like an internal spiral or an inner reflection, […] but a public process. The reflection moves outwards. One sees others in the act of watching and one knows to be watched by the others […]. The whole thing happens in a shared risky climate.” The rejection of such a risk shows a crisis in the belief in public relations and community that is to be observed on different levels, from complexes of persecution visible in state espionage and the complete abandonment of the society and public sphere.

The primary choice to enter a room, to leave that room, or to stay outside and watch, can produce the illusion of the existence of two different globes, two domains of life. The formation of this spatial hierarchy is based on the clash of conflictive categories such as the fictional and the real, the exposed and the clandestine, the repetition and the silence.

The starry sky and the depths of the earth remain the ultimate, optically and physically invincible boundaries. They are efficiency-oriented in their own way: the greater the sacrifice, the higher or deeper one can go. The earth is decidedly flat.

text: (c) Mario Margani, 2015

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Silvia Lorenz’ dialogue with space is provisional and emotional, her driving force is the doubt about the existing state of things and the search for a wider perspective. Whether city space or outer space – the central question is an existential one about our place in space. Her often transient sculptures are made from carefully chosen materials, mostly re-used from everyday life usage. The discrepancy between the topics and the choice of materials is conscious formal contradiction.

Katharina Lüdicke poses the question of our future living conditions in the city and approaches this topic in an on-going series of installations. Her public sculptural and architectural interventions are connected to the current social conditions. Through a withdrawal in the private sphere she questions the issue of the public space and rejects conventional spatial proposals.

www.agva-ciat.de

http://www.silvialorenz.wordpress.com

http://www.katharina-luedicke.de