To bring color and positive energy to our Neighbors and City, and balance the depressive vibes Berlin finds itself due to the COVID-19 situation in Germany, we decided to present in our shop windows, on a two-week rotation, a series of powerful and high vibrating photography & video art solo-exhibitions titled

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS

exhibiting
Per Christian Brown, Boris Eldagsen, Eleonora Roaro, Mathilde Nardone

1st – 14th February:

Per Christian Brown
“Lumen Naturae”

The colorful and vibrant pieces by Norwegian artist Per Christian Brown (b. 1976) on display are inspired by both ancient medieval alchemical ideas of transformation and the mysteries of material substances we find in nature. The artist’s analogue photo series has been meticulously produced in his studio, composed as tableaux in glass tanks where liquid colors, varied rocks and minerals have been staged. These compositions express the artist’s own abstract impressions and ideas about volcanism, as the ultimate of all the natural phenomena, and sprung from a two-month residency program he attended on Iceland in 2016.

The title of this presentation, “Lumen Naturae”, relates to the ancient alchemical ideas of Paracelsus (1493-1541) and the psychoanalyst C.G. Jung’s analysis of these ancient theories. He  argues that there is a spark of divinity in all material phenomena. Alchemists knew that the inner transformative process reveals the hidden light within matter. It is the inner work that reveals matter’s divine light. Paracelsus’s idea of an inner light shining in the whole humanity and in all nature also means that there is light everywhere, in darkness and in shadow.

Brown’s video piece entitled “Die Farben sind Taten des Lichts, Taten und Leiden” (colors are acts of light, acts, and suffering) is a short video composed of time-lapse footage of various liquid color pigments poured into glass tanks as well as various flowers. A flower bud slowly opens its petals and presents itself in all its beauty.

The title of the piece is taken from a well-known quote from J.W. Goethe´s color theory. It taps into the idea that color not only represents joy and life but also has an intrinsic element of suffering and decay. There is a dichotomy between the flower’s beauty and the indisputable fact that it will lose its colorful glory, fade and decompose. A dichotomy that sparks contemplation of life and death in nature and man, and the fact that everything, including us humans, has only an allotted time here on earth.

15th -28th February:

Eleonora Roaro
“Tulipomania”

5 channel video | 06’02”| 1920 x 1080 HD 16:9 | Edition 3 + AP| 2015
Sound © Massimiliano Viel

1st – 15th March:

Mathilde Nardone
“Tell It With Flowers”

Say it with flowers. Mathilde Nardone doesn’t use floriography – the language of flowers – in a classical way, but still, she uses it to speak about themes that are not always the easiest. The flowers used in her art are always telling a story, usually related to her life’s paths, or her family, longing for the theme of identity, belonging, and immigration. Themes that are always actual, always hard, always rich in polemics. To talk about such hard themes by using such a delicate subject is definitely a refined way, quite surprising, for such a young artist. There are flashes and reminiscences in her compositions, showing an early interest in art as a representation of the inner self. But the young artist is not in search of the past, she prefers to retain the one that remain

16th- 31st March

Boris Eldagsen
“Into Outer Space”

Boris will present his latest video productions, realized mainly during the series of Lockdowns in 2020, belonging to the series THE POSTHUMAN. The Posthuman concept finds its origins in science fiction and futurology, developing even further in contemporary art and philosophy, and refers to person and entities existing in a state that goes beyond just being human. It translates in a cultural movement quite critical of the foundational assumptions of humanism and its legacy, often challenging typical notions of human subjectivity and embodiment, striving to move beyond archaic concepts of “human nature” to develop ones which constantly adapt to contemporary techno-scientific knowledge, while raising the issues of gender, sexuality, ethics, social systems, and interdisciplinary expression. For his videos, Eldagsen mainly collaborated with performers, who see themselves as genderfluid and posthuman.

XMAS IN PLATO’S CAVE*
A philosopher’s fever dream (2020)
1-channel 4K video-installation, 08:32 mins loop, dimensions variable
Performer & Choreography: Susana Chamorro, Carlos Collado
Soundscape: Tanvir Taolad

UNTYING (THE PAST FROM THE FUTURE)
A Posthuman Statement (2020)
1-channel 4K video-installation, 06:34 mins loop, dimensions variable
4K Video loop
Performance: Aun Helden (Brazil)

PLASTIC FOREST
A Butoh Dance (2020)
2-channel HD video-installation, 10 mins loop, dimensions variable

Part I [Before the Storm]
Concept: CoCo Katsura (Japan)
Camera, Light, Edit, Sound: Boris Eldagsen
Performance: Xinru Lee (China)

Part I [After the Storm]
Concept: CoCo Katsura (Japan)
Camera, Light, Edit, Sound: Boris Eldagsen
Performance: Lisa Stertz (Germany)

THE MARRIAGE OF YAN & YING (Part I)
A sci-fi-genderbender trip to outer space (2018 -2020)
3-channel HD video-installation, 03:30 mins loop, dimensions variable
Performance: Kupalua (Brazil)
Light: Paulinho Fluxus from LabLUXZ_ (Brazil) & Boris Eldagsen

*Produced by ‘Stadt findet Kunst’ –  an event series of the Department of Culture | Berlin Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf for the promotion of artistic projects in urban areas as immediate aid for artists, supported by the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe.