Eva Koch "That Dream of Peace"
Eva Koch’s video installation That Dream of Peace is a site-specific work created for a quite special urban space in Copenhagen: The Cisterns under Søndermarken, a former water reservoir that dates back to 1856. Dark, cold and damp the rooms with their dripstone formations remind one both of dripstone caves in nature but also of dungeons, catacombs and bomb shelters, places in which people have been imprisoned or have voluntarily sought refuge from war and destruction.
The title work, which is situated in Cistern 2, is a 15-meter-long, coherent moving image that alternates between close-ups of poppies unfolding and panning shots across undulating poppy fields underlain with a faint sound of birdsong. At various intervals the red surfaces of the pictures are interrupted by black-and-white film sequences showing children at play, and at the same time the sound changes to the voices of children. The time shifts between recordings of playing children from the 1930s and of present-day children, but because all the pictures are in black-and-white, these shifts are almost imperceptible.
Elsewhere in the exhibition time has been given its own indicator with a projection that shows the same tree photographed each day throughout a year. As a form of reminder that the world functions without any human intervention, that Nature has Her own cycle. That beauty may be found just outside your door if you open your eyes. The innermost room is reserved for white doves – the oldest and best-known symbol of peace. The videoed doves have been liberated from their picture frames, so that it really looks as if the doves are on a visit.
The sound is crucial, and it follows the movements of each dove – we see and hear them flap their wings, take off and land in a new spot. At the back of the room the doves seem to be flying freely around. Eva Koch has exploited the dampness of the locality so that the light of the projected doves is reflected in droplets of water.
As a contrast to the dark subterranean rooms Eva Koch’s installation presents itself as a strong, radiant vision of play, love and peace. A dream that is both simple, almost banal, but which also just now it seems to be more important than ever that we keep intact.
link here
The exhibition I choose to write about is the 'That Dream of Peace' exhibition by Eva Koch at the The Cisterns in Copenhagen. I visited there without knowing so much about Eva Koch at the first time in August, but when I came out I felt like I was a part of their identity and she is my favourite artist now. so I visited this time again.
There is a link between "Calais" and "That Dream of Peace" inasmuch as they both address unbearable realities. In the former Koch exposes the lack of a will to act, a passivity in relation to a humanitarian crisis that has only become more acute since she created the work. In the latter the context is far less concrete. The poppy is a delicate flower with a brief life span, and that is perhaps why it was a favourite motif for Claude Monet(1840-1926). It encapsulated Impressionism's immediacy through its quick flowering and just as quick disappearance. In The Cisterns the poppy represents both a longing for peace and a picture of its fragility. The poppy does not comfort us. Like its seeds it contains both poles of our feeling. There is death in its beauty and fragility. In children's play we see the ultimate motif of innocence and every child embodies a potential for changing the world. Every child is a beginning and a hope. The Children's play will undoubtedly be affected by how we interpret the poppy. We begin by being children that play. All play must, however, come to an end. We are constantly hovering between hope and perdition. The doves mean something and nothing at the same time. Eva Koch's work possesses a quivering duality of light and darkness, quite concretely made up of the anatomy of the film medium and the substantiality of The Cisterns.
Nothing grows in The Cisterns besides dripstones. This is a manmade setting whose original context no longer exists. If it had not already been there, Eva Koch might well have invented its history, because displacements are a special interest for her. How things wander around us, and through us become something else. "That Dream of Peace" possesses a marked openness that gives us room in which to make our own displacements. As was the case with "I Am the River", the space in which Eva Koch intervenes is just as important as the elements she puts into it. So "That Dream of Peace" is not a series of works or an installation in a space, but rather an entire universe.
As one moves from the big projection in the direction of the third and last room, one meets at both entries a smaller projection that shows the crown of a tree, which changes its appearance so that it reflects the cyclic course of the seasons. In an endless loop it buds, comes into leaf, changes colour and sheds its leaves. It is a natural maker of the passing of time. A tree that ticks like a clock and which like a clock has no end. The tree goes on and doing the only thing it can do. Just as the poppies flower and fade. Just as the children play and have always played. As in 'Everygreen' we start from the beginning over and over.again.
I like how she express about there is no end in this world with using the seasonable and nature change.
The doves seem to be in the same room as we are. Where Koch's other interventions in The Cisterns are of a markedly metaphorical character, temporal compressions and abrupt cuts from one imagine to the next clip, here in this last room one is struck by a powerful sense of intimacy, a presence of something alive. One can't help thinking of the fact that the inspiration for these doves is to be found in the old Christian catacombs in Rome, where one has found depictions of doves with olive branches in their beaks. Much later, after the conclusion of World War II, this ancient peace motif was represented in many drawings by Pablo Picasso (1881-1973). But even though doves are obviously peace symbols in our culture, we tend to regard abnormal behaviour in the animal world with concern. Whether it is the swallow that heralds rain by flying low, or the elephant fleeing from a tsunami, we are liable to ascribe to animals the ability to be a step ahead of us when some threat is approaching. There is something ominous about the fact that the doves have found their way into a room that is not normally theirs. They have chosen a place from which they cannot escape into the air. So even though the white dove is a peace symbol and therefore so clearly in harmony with the title of the work, the context, the dark subterranean cisterns, helps to create doubts in the visitor about the peace motif: Can the doves bear the peace? I think this is a central observation because the work is not didactic; it is not called "A Dream of Peace" but "That Dream of Peace". In Koch's "That" there is just as much a cycle as in the trees. This means that in reality the work is about the "dream" of peace rather than about "peace" itself. In that sense the doves are not necessarily peace symbols but, instead, imagines of our longing for peace. Perhaps the doves are waiting down there for peace to arrive.
I really like her work because she always interacts with her surroundings or rather she brings her surroundings into her world. However do we take the world in, how is our filter to our surroundings constituted? How do we pass on our impressions?
Bending the Frame at Fotografisk center
What do we want from this media revolution? Not just where is it bringing us, but where so we want to go
When the pixels start to settle, where do we think we should be in relationshipto media-as producers of media, as its subjects, and as readers and viewers?
These are just a few of the questions facing us in this digital era when really anyone can make, alter, upload, and digital era when nearly anyone can make, alter, upload, and distribute their own imagery nearly instantaneously. Billions of photographs and videos are uploaded daily, and hundreds of millions of tweets. How do we make sense of it all?
Bending the Frame refers to the idea that, given the enormous challenges we face on our planet, we have no choice but to engage with new media strategies that might be more helpful in understanding who we are and what is happening around us today, giving us a chance to steer ourselves into our own futures rather than passively await them. Artists, Journalists, and documentarians like are experimenting with new models of knowing and of telling. Can their interventions help us get to a better place? Can they help us to ask new questions and, as a result, come up with better answers?
Can Photographers and others in media work proactively, helping to minimise or even prevent tragedies with their imagery, rather than just responding to the disasters? Can artist and photographers contribute work on the perils of climate change, and what can be done about it, so that some of the worst outcomes might be avoided? Can the camera be shared with immigrants to aid in their integration rather than being eroticised and feared? While there are almost none of peace photography-can conflicts be diminished or even prevented before they happen, and can those affected be helped to heal after the fighting is over?
Mendel's work helped eight million people to get treatment. There are other projects in this exhibition that also have been pivotal for people in various ways. As conventional media faces its own challenges, having lost some credibility and considerable financial support from readers and advertisers in many parts of the world, others are working independently in photography, video, multimedia, hypertext, installations, trans media and other forms, both as authors and as collaborators, to empower their subjects and more deeply engage their viewers. Even in an age of media over-saturation, there is still much that is thoughtful and helpful to be done.
Tomas Van Houtryve "Suspect Behaviour"
Kent Klich Title Imperfect
Picture Imperfect is based on a long-term friendship and collaboration between the photographer Kent Klich and Beth R, a former drug addict and prostitute. Klich photographed her for more than twenty years.
"Jetzt wird's hot im Staate Dänemark" Gregor Hildebrandt at Avlskarl Gallery
For the exhibition Jetzt word's hot I'm state Danemark, the German edition of William Shakespeare's Hamlet published by Reclam serves as a model and leitmotif. The artist engraves the imagine of the book cover, a portrait of an actor playing Hamlet, on granite and places and plates it opposite the entrance of the narrow exhibition space. Hamlet directs his gaze to the cassette rack showing his beloved Ophelia. The work surrounds the monumental floor work in which the imagine is reflected like on the surface of a body of water. Hirnholzparkett is composed of cassette tapes would around reels, cut into pieces and cast in epoxy resin, so that the visible surface consists of the narrow edges of countless audio tapes.
The tapes of the two Rip-Offs bear a recording of the play Hamletmaschine by the German dramatist Heiner Muller, set to music by the band Einstuzende Neubauten. The works are always created in pairs: in a positive and a negative version. A part of the audio tape's coating sticks to a canvas partially covered with adhesive tape, and these tapes are then fixed on a second canvas, forming the exact counter of negative imagine.
Record
Crushed the records
Records floor
Danish Fashion industry
Two Common Denominators
For the many Danish fashion brands-albeit with high-profile exceptions are affordable prices and a tolerant fit. Comfortable and functional everyday clothes, "easy to wear", as interpreted by the individual brands. They do not require an ideally proportioned body but promote well-being and a relaxed lifestyle.
A Certain Democratic character
Popular appeal are thus key features of Danish fashion. That is not to say that this is necessarily what Danes are wearing, as Danish fashion clearly targets the export markets. The fashion industry, with exports accounting for more than 90 % of turnover. The network organisation Danish Fashion institute promotes the image of Danish Fashion, and Copenhagen is on the global fashion map, even if it is not among the biggest global fashion centres.
Danish Fashion brands-Fahison for All?
A tendency to flout conventions for "appropriate attire" is often coupled with a democratic mentality in Danish fashion. Further, diversity and individuality are coupled with an ethical awareness of environmental issues and social responsibility. These have long been key focus areas- Danish fashion companies are keenly aware of consumer expectations of sustainable production and decent working conditions. The Nordic project NICE(Nordic Initiative Clean and Ethical, 2008)supports these ethical goals with tools and recommendations.
A minimalist trend and inspiration from streetwear contrast the picturesque style, driven by simplicity, quality and the modernist design mantra: form follows function. The expression is often masculine with inspiration from streetwear. The classic suit seems unassailable, but current trends in menswear adds new elements. A preference for classic design solutions, for example a return to previous designs in collection after collection, is shared by many of the brands operating in the minimalist arena.
For example Mads Nørgaard
Danish designers are inspired and influenced by international dialogue and collaboration with manufactures outside `denmark, playing their part in the international "design transfer". In a global set0up where design is a key competitive parameter, however, the outside world is taking notice; How can Denmark-one of Europe's smallest nations with a population of only 5.5 million people-foster such a significant and week-reputed design culture?
Design and Decoration in the 20th century
As in the 19th century, the 20th century witnessed varying waves of new fashion styles. These included: the kimono-inspired fashions of the 1910s; the prevailing tomboy of the frivolous 1920s with short column like dresses with unrestrictive sleeves that facilitated dancing; and finally the long floating lines of the 1930s. During World War II and the years that immediately followed scarcity of materials led to great invention amongst designers in terms of their designs and use of materials. In 1947, the French couture designer Christian Dior laughed the "New Look" with its revival of the waspish waist and long, voluminous skirts. In the 1960s, Danish fashion designers began working with ready-to-wear clothing industry, which led to stylish, understated and functional clothing. This understated style became a popular and internationally esteemed feature of much of Danish fashion and reminds so to this day. A particular niche for Danish clothing production was in the production of hand crafted garments. From as early as the 1950s, weavers and textile printers had been creating textiles for clothing, which many of them personally designed, cut and sewed together. Initially these craftsmen and crafts women followed the prevailing trends, but subsequently their designs began to diverge, distancing themselves from commercial fashion.
Body and identity in the 20th century in Denmark
In the 20th century, Danish texile and fashion production carved out its own identity and became recognised for the influential role it played in the international success of Danish Design. Weaavers and textiles in their own work-shops. Most worked with textiles for the home, consequently collaborating closely with the furniture designers and architects of the time. In the 1950s, more na more Danish weavers and textiles printers began producing material for clothing they produced as alternative and a contrast to contemporary fashions.
People worked on their clothes, making small alterations to accommodate changes in body shape, and adding the latest accessories to keep their clothes up to date. Clothing had to comply with the age's ideals of how a woman should be. They were expected to enhance a woman's appearance. The latest fashion designers were launched at exclusive bi-anuual fashion shows for customers and the press, who covered the events using flamboyant and colourful language.
In the 1960s, a new youth sub-culture started to challenge the existing values and norms. Young designers broke way from the ideals of the past, where fashion had been expected to be unique and elegant, and a means of accentuating the beauty of a woman's body. Now clothing had to be young and smart. What was fashionable was no longer dictated by an exclusive elite; It was also dictated by the trends of young people on the street, to whom off-the-peg clothing was aimed. Not only was clothing liberated from having constricting bourgeois, old-fashioned ways of thinking.
Handicrafts and Industry in the 20th century
In fashion houses and tailors' establishment, quality and fit are the two key essentials for success, and over time many process have been performed by hand in order to create the most elegant result. The less affluent woman could take inspiration from the many fashion photographs in magazines, and could perhaps afford to have clothes sewn for her by one of the many seamstresses or smaller dressmaking establishments. If she could sew, she could buy a sewing pattern and material and sew herself her own dream dress.
The ready-to-wear industry really began to take off with the emergence of youth and teenage culture. Alongside their individually tailored haute couture garments, many influential French fashion designers also began producing ready-to-wear collections sewn to standard measurements. These clothes were ready to buy and wear immediately. Danish fashion designers adopted the trend and either began collaborating with Danish manufacturers or set up their own businesses. The designers competed successfully on the international fashion scene, and Denmark enjoyed healthy exports of fashionable ready-to-wear clothing to Europe and the USA. The 1990s, following a downturn in the Danish fashion industry in the 1980s, when much of the production moved away from Denmark, witnessed a resurgence in Danish fashion design. Danish designers continue to sell well globally, and today the Danish fashion industry is one of the country's biggest export successes. In one area in particular- Denmark is one of the leading countries in the world.
In the following World War II and up until the 1970s/80s, Denmark had its own small-scale textile production industry. This industry mainly produced textiles for the home. The many quality designs produced testify to the close and successful collaboration between industry and those working with textile craft and design. The few remaining Danish industrial textile manufactures today have their products manufactures around Europe. Since the early 20th century, the most significant development in the field of Danish textile production, in terms of weaving and textile printing, have taken place in workshops producing handcrafted Danish textiles and clothing.