Category: Allgemein

You’ve been in Chemnitz (travelling) for a few weeks now:
What are your impressions of the city? Did you notice anything in particular? Why? What differences do you see compared to your home city of Berlin, for example?

Klara: “Chemnitz, the “land” of empty buildings. I’m really impressed by the amount of space and the empty buildings throughout the city. This emptiness gives me the impression of unlimited possibilities – to make and let things happen. It’s as if the empty spaces are fuelling my daydreams. Inevitably, many questions about space and living come to mind: “What would happen if I moved to Chemnitz? Would I one day be able to afford to buy an entire building in this city? Could I take up residence in one of these buildings and convert it into a giant odour laboratory? Would people from Berlin come round if I got a minibus at the weekends?” Fantasising about the possibilities of the space. What also fascinates me is the large number of gardens and how committed the people who run them are. In a city that seems quite quiet and tranquil, I think community building and meeting places are a must to keep it connected.“

As part of the 2020 Von Sinnen dialogue fields, you are focusing on the sense of smell: are there any impressions that you draw from the Sonnenberg in particular? What are they specifically? How are these reflected in your work?

Klara: “At the moment, I find the smells of the Sonnenberg neighbourhood quite neutral. As the spaces are so spacious and hardly any gatherings of people are possible at the moment due to the COVID regulations, the odours are dissipating. I wonder whether the urban planning and the almost non-existent odour go hand in hand. During the wonderful tour that Octavio and Lisa from Bordsteinlobby e.V. organised on the first few days in the city, I learned that Chemnitz used to smell a lot like Trabant oil and that pollution from the surrounding open-cast mines was virtually taking over the city.
So the (apparent) odour neutrality must be something really important for everyone and for the history of the city. It’s almost like a figurehead, a kind of beacon. The neutral scent reminds us to forget and leave behind who we were and hints at who we want to be.
The tabula rasa or white-scented canvas sparks my imagination, just like the empty buildings do. What would happen if a foreigner – which I am – not only rethought the smells of Sonnenberg, but also recreated them? What if I told a fictional story of imaginative scents of the Sonnenberg?”

Can you give us a little preview of the work that will be created? What can visitors to the presentation week from 12 December to 18 December look forward to?

Klara: “Because of the current world madness, I’ve been very interested in self-care experiences lately and how to create rituals – how to give people space to process everything we’re going through in the art context.
For example, in Berlin I created an all-white space, including a large white cushion (7 metres) in a gallery space in Berlin-Mitte. The space was scented with sea and air odours, and I designed a repetitive droning sound to help visitors relax. I wanted people to be able to come and stay in the space for as long as they needed to. A break from the pandemic and their private lives.
Here at Sonnenberg, I’m working to combine those self-care practices with the neutral aromas of the neighbourhood. To this end, I have designed a ritual self-care rug that is made from wool. The rug contains various symbols woven into it. They are representations of my own healing and caring practices. I realise that this is very private and not everyone could relate to it, so I want to share my practices and bring them to a more personal (rather than private) level – the connection between the smell of the neighbourhood and what we can do to feel better by imagining what scents we could create together for a better future.”

You’ve been in Chemnitz (travelling) for a few weeks now:
What are your impressions of the city? Did you notice anything in particular? Why? What differences do you see compared to your home city of Berlin, for example?

Tainá: “I’m happy to see so many gardening initiatives and people who want to build a more sustainable, inclusive and harmonious society. I have met people from different backgrounds living in the city and they are all so strong and inspiring – from the Haus der Kulturen, to the Lila Villa and its international community, to all Germans and locals. I hadn’t expected a city with so much space and large avenues. I like that, as a symbolic image. Creation needs space. Change needs space. So when I think about these two things (the space in the city and these people I met), I think that the perhaps prevailing negative image of the city can be changed for the better.

The work that Klub Solitaer e.V. is doing with Dialogue Fields is one of the key projects on this path to change. The idea of bringing together six artists from outside the city to work with the local community and encourage thinking about public spaces is a powerful tool to bring people together for positive change.
…
Compared to Berlin, I see similarities in the garden initiatives and the growing number of young people who are willing to have a “small garden” that brings more sustainable ideas and the goal of making cities greener.”

As part of the 2020 Von Sinnen dialogue fields, you are focusing on the sense of taste: are there any impressions that you draw from the Sonnenberg in particular? What are they specifically? How are these reflected in your work?

Tainá: “I think the district and its neighbourhood are very beautiful. I like the view of the city from the “top” of the Sonnenberg. Sometimes a mysterious fog covers parts of the buildings at sunset. The view of the rooftops is breathtaking. My favourite grocery shop in the city “Peacefood” is located here – my strongest connection to food here. They have a good selection of ingredients and the diversity is visible, tasty and you can understand through the sense of taste the importance of preserving diversity on our planet. Flavour is one of the most compelling senses we have. I think it’s the sense we trust and understand the most.”

Can you give us a little preview of the work that will be created? What can visitors to the presentation week from 12 to 18 December look forward to?

Tainá: “I’m working on an installation consisting of seven large prints (3.5m x 2m) and seven videos, in collaboration with people from Chemnitz from different backgrounds. The installation uses the self to unpack concepts that reflect identity and symbolism. The individuals or so-called “entities” depicted on the prints act as a surface to sensitise comments on issues related to diversity. The visual embodiment of food unfolds personal and collective identity, and connections between elements and areas that have been a theme since the dawn of humanity.”

You’ve been in Chemnitz (travelling) for a few weeks now:
What are your impressions of the city? Did you notice anything in particular? Why? What differences do you see compared to your home cities of Dresden and Hamburg, for example?

Heiko: “Chemnitz was a blank slate for me. I didn’t know the label Raster-Noton or Raster-Media and nothing else apart from the events of 2018. Compared to Hamburg, the extreme vacancy rate here on Sonnenberg is an absolute extreme. There are no vacancies in Hamburg and entire houses are empty here. Nevertheless, I got to know Chemnitz with enthusiasm. The “Gegenwarten/Presences” exhibition and the “Hang zur Kultur” event were part of my first week in Chemnitz. There was also a wonderful bike tour through Chemnitz with the kerbside lobby and a warm introduction to Galerie Borssenanger and Galerie OSCAR in Weltecho.”

As part of the 2020 Von Sinnen dialogue fields, you are devoting yourself to the sense of hearing: are there any impressions that you draw from the Sonnenberg in particular? What are they specifically? How are these reflected in your work?

Heiko: “I’ve been working as a sound installation artist since 2007. My focus has long been on the sounds of urban space, although I very rarely exhibit outside of a gallery/museum. I position ventilation/air conditioning systems, radiators, fluorescent tubes or drops of water in downpipes in exhibitions. I am therefore delighted to have been invited to work directly in an urban space. With a decibel meter in my hand, I have taken many walks through the neighbourhood, and the results of my tours will be presented from 31 October.”

Can you give us a brief preview of the resulting work? What can visitors to the presentation week from 31 October to 6 November look forward to?

Heiko: “In my work “Schallleistungspegel Chemnitz-Sonnenberg”, the ticking of traffic lights, the humming of ventilation systems, the whirring of electricity boxes and other noise generators in public spaces are measured. A sticker informs passers-by that there is something to hear here. To find the places where I measured and labelled the sound power level on the Sonnenberg, you get a map of the neighbourhood with markings and further information.”

You’ve been in Chemnitz (travelling) for a few weeks now:
What are your impressions of the city? Did you notice anything in particular? Why? What differences do you see compared to your home cities of Dresden and Hamburg, for example?

Anna: “For me, Chemnitz is all about having lots of space. Wide streets, big houses, few people. That leaves a lot of space. I’m quite impressed by all the different cultural initiatives that use this space to shape the diverse subculture and always seek a strong connection to the urban society of Chemnitz. In contrast to Dresden, which has been almost completely renovated to death in recent years and mainly maintains its baroque heritage, stylistic breaks are visible in Chemnitz. I am reminded much more of the GDR past by certain buildings or monuments from that time. I enjoy that in a strange way. There is not one image, one aesthetic of Chemnitz. Chemnitz is like a jigsaw puzzle in which individual pieces have been lost over time and replaced by new ones. A cluster without a centre.”

As part of the 2020 Von Sinnen dialogue fields, you are focusing on the sense of touch: are there any impressions that you draw from the Sonnenberg in particular? What are they specifically? How are these reflected in your work?

Anna: “Touch is the sense that locates me in the world. By taking in information through touch, I recognise the temperature of a surface, feel whether it is soft or hard and at what distance I am from an object. This is initially independent of the exact surroundings. I use touch to relate my body to its surroundings. That is crucial for me. Moving the body into the centre, so to speak, and positioning it. In this case in Sonnenberg. Where do I walk past quickly? Where do I want to linger? Which surface structures have I perhaps never noticed before? Which corners and edges offer space for the body to adapt and hide in? Which surfaces are wide and large so that they can be used as a stage?”

Can you give us a small preview of the work in progress? What can visitors to the presentation week from 31 October to 6 November look forward to?

Anna: “I want to try something at DIALOGFELDER that I’ve never done before. Normally, my work is characterised by minimalism, precision and artistic dialogue; I also mainly produce pieces for the (theatre) stage. This time I’m going into the urban space and working intensively with a special material: foam. I’ve basically looked for an oversized costume as a performance partner. The object consists of different polygonal shapes (conception and construction: Tobias Eisenkrämer) and is a bit bigger than me. I am inside the object, so my body disappears almost completely, but moves the material from the inside. There are also several holes that I use to give the foam creature arms, legs and a head. In this way, I feel the city, the Sonnenberg.”

What were your first impressions of Chemnitz?

TheSystemCollective: “What we noticed were the many derelict sites. That a lot of things are being rebuilt – we have the feeling that we’ve arrived at the beginning of an unfolding process and that suits us quite well.”

Is there a favourite tool or software that you particularly enjoy working with?

TheSystemCollective:“It’s important to us to work with as much free software as possible. This includes Blender, for example, a 3D programme. On the programming side, we use Leaflet, Three.js and our own open source programmes; our map comes from OpenStreetMap. These are all programmes that have a participatory approach. We also try to convey this approach to the artists we introduce to the digital world. Normally, software makes the user the product; here, however, we are the owners of what we create. In the same way, it is important to us that the artists continue to own the work they place on our map.”

Tell us about one of your works that you like to think back on.

theSystemCollective: “Our artistic collaboration began at an exhibition in an empty shop in Vienna. The works created there were then digitally saved and transformed into virtual sculptures in the urban space. Artists from all disciplines were able to distribute their works throughout Vienna. The exhibition series was called “TheSystem – Phase.1″. Many artists whose exhibitions were cancelled approached us and motivated us to continue. It became clear: what we are doing is a museum without a fixed location. We are not curators per se, we share the platform for our own concepts and their placement in public space.”

What is your first association with drag & drop, our theme this year?

Philipp: “The first thing I think of is that little computer hand with the Mickey Mouse glove and that plop sound when you drop a file into a folder.”

How else does your work differ from your work here in Chemnitz?

Philipp:“My practice has a lot to do with text; I write. At PARA, we all do a bit of everything, getting a feel for the area, which is what I usually mainly do.

My work here is not that different – I’ve read all sorts of things to do with smoke – I’ve read about whaling, the production of whale oil as an illuminant, books about London at the time of industrialisation, because I’m trying to get a feel for what it was like to live in a classic working-class neighbourhood like Sonnenberg when it was so heavily smoky. To open up this idea, through texts and images, is a typical approach for me. This morning, for example, I read a text by Heinrich Böll about the Ruhr area, one of Germany’s industrial centres. I read a lot about the coal phase-out, everything that falls under the complex of “social transformation”, about the shift from the fundamental process of burning things to something new and unknown.”

“PARA’s view is the view of this era from an assumed future. Looking back from a speculative time to a past that is our present. Looking from the future to the present opens up a lot. The Sonnenberg lends itself to this because you can see that a lot of things are just starting to happen here – the Kreativhof is a classic example, because now people are thinking: what is industry that is future-proof and sustainable?”

Tell us about one of your works that you like to think back on.

Philipp: “The Ruins of Speculation in Frankfurt. It was about the financial market’s ideas of the future. These are very specific ideas, those of an open, statistically modellable future, an undefined future. We realised that this idea would one day be just as much a thing of the past as, for example, the ideas about the future of antiquity are today, which is why we declared the Taunusanlage a World Heritage Site. We have shown people round the site and talked to many of them. They reacted intensively to the work; the fiction of travelling back in time that we brought into play was very strong in some cases.”

What kind of project have you come up with for this year’s dialogue fields?

Sendi: “When we were contacted by Klub Solitaer, we immediately had the idea that the city itself should become the protagonist of our project. We developed two projects – “DOITYOURSELF” is a performance in which a picture is drawn collectively. The action takes place in a park, for example. We start painting there using audio instructions and invite people to take part.
In the second project, “Trackeds”, passers-by are unwitting participants. The film recordings of the city are made at different locations and the movements of the cars and people captured in the process contribute to the creation of a new work.”

Did you already have an image of Chemnitz in advance or did you discard an old image of the city?

Sendi: “No, we only knew that Chemnitz had been chosen as the European Capital of Culture 2025, just like our city of Nova Gorica. On the day we arrived, it was cold and rainy, so there was nobody on the street. However, my perception of the city changed over the next few days. Only then did I realise how much is happening here and that people actually live here. I know that might sound absurd to people from Chemnitz, but so far I’ve only met very open-minded people. That’s why my image has only changed for the better, if at all.”

What do you want to say with your work in the dialogue fields?

Sendi: “We actually want the people of Chemnitz to share their ideas and dreams about the city. We just like being three artists behind the camera and want to observe what happens and exchange ideas with the residents.“

Jurij: “It is typical of our work that we create an environment that focuses on public space. The participants create the art. The interesting thing about our projects is that the art is therefore not just dependent on us. Ultimately, we are not only artists, but also observers.”

What were your first associations when you heard about “drag & drop”?

Niklas: “When I heard about drag & drop, I thought: of course – it has something to do with GUIs, with computers, with interface interaction, with dragging and dropping files. On the other hand, it also fits very well with what my partner Kati and I do artistically together. We often work digitally and in public spaces, which means that we take our physical installations with us (“dragging”) and then also where we find an audience (“dropping”).”

What kind of project have you come up with for this year’s Dialogue Fields?

Niklas: “The project we are currently working on together is a “vector collector”, a mobile device that we use to collect vectors. The idea is that people can make drawings with a joystick. The images are stored digitally and we build up an archive of vector drawings. We will process the vectors in the final week with the aim of leaving something lasting on the Sonnenberg.”

Digitality in Chemnitz’s urban space, especially on the Sonnenberg: science fiction or everyday life?

Niklas:“I immediately noticed the network coverage via Freifunk on the Sonnenberg. I’d like to have something like that in Berlin too. Chemnitz is already further ahead than other cities and that’s a great thing.”

What kind of work have you developed for the dialogue fields?

Susanna: “For the dialogue fields, I’m working with Google Maps and the feedback structures that can be stored via reviews, comments and image uploads. I want to utilise the potential of the feedback structures artistically.”

How quickly did you realise that you wanted to develop this project and go in this direction? Was it an idea that you had from the start or did it come about spontaneously?

Susanna: “The project came about here. I found it very exciting to be invited for about a month as part of the dialogue fields and to engage with the city on site. It’s very exciting, but it also put a bit of pressure on me because I was afraid that I wouldn’t come up with a good idea. But we had an exciting input right at the beginning in Chemnitz with the Welcome Days. The idea then actually materialised in discussions with the others.”

What can visitors expect from your presentation and the project in general?

Susanna: “It’s the starting signal for a project without any claim to completeness. There will be a walk with a very personal and associative tour of the Sonnenberg via Google Maps entries and the topic of constantly evaluating and categorising things into one to five stars. The people of Chemnitz and the rest of the world, as we are all measured by Google Maps, can use it. Through the open structure, anyone can rate places and upload photos or text to start a public debate.”

What work did you develop for the dialogue fields?

Simon: “For the dialogue fields, I wanted to portray the citizens of Sonnenberg. I realised that you see new faces and meet new people every day when you walk around the Sonnenberg. I therefore wanted to create portraits of the Sonnenberg, which can then be seen as an installation.”

Do you notice any differences to other residencies now that you’ve been invited to a city with a personal connection?

Simon: “Definitely. You come into contact with people more quickly and also have a few more connections. Somehow I was back in relatively quickly. After the first two days, I already had the feeling that I had arrived well and was able to get started straight away. That was the biggest difference to other cities. Back then, I perceived Sonnenberg as a blatant Nazi mountain that I always gave a wide berth. Now I was amazed at how diverse the urban area is. I wanted to pursue this approach further. With the portraits, I want to show how much has changed compared to the Chemnitz of 10 or 15 years ago when I moved away.”

What can visitors expect from your presentation?

Simon: “In principle, it will be an installation that you have to spend a lot of time in front of. Ultimately, it will be a screen-based work. When you stand in front of the installation, you probably think it’s a portrait at first. If you stand in front of it for longer, you will see that the face slowly evolves and morphs from one face to another. I believe that the question can then arise as to how much change it takes to recognise a new person and what this triggers in the viewer.”