During my studies at the Royal College of Art, I turned to my family archive. While reflecting on authority and freedom, Hannah Arendt calls Walter Benjamin a ''Perlentaucher'' (Pearl diver), as someone who tries to salvage past knowledge. Benjamin state that a breach of tradition and loss of authority are irreparable and drew the conclusion to seek new ways of dealing with the past. Arendt was determined to rescue, piece by piece, lost ideas that are no longer cherished by any tradition into the present.
in the series ''Perlentaucher'' (2024) I ''dig-out'' and reconstruct artifacts from my family archive that might be uncomfortable but are necessary to dig-out in order to learn from the past.
In this digital photo series, my twin sister Stephanie has become the visual subject once again. Her body in relation to the reconstructed archival material creates new relations and power dynamics as well as opens up a dialogue about the importance of archival material for the present times.
Stephanie has become the visual subject in my artworks in order to expand the notion of self-portrait and emphasize the constructed nature of identity and gender in general. I lean on Judith Butler's gender as a performative act: is there a self, who am I actually, am I my body?
The process of reconstructing objects from my family archive with cardboard, wood, wax, textile and acrylic colors helps me to critically investigate their identity, re-define and eventually change it in order to assign them with a new meaning. More about it in my project ''Das Blütenstaubzimmer''.
*Perlentaucher (pearl diver) is used metaphorically to describe people who gain valuable insights or treasures from difficult situations, or - as Walter Benjamin describes it - someone who salvages past knowledge that would otherwise be forgotten.
Works:
- Screen-Print A3
- Objects made out of Cardboard, Textiles and Acrylics