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The Last Night
Folder with research results (photocopy and photograph), oil on paper, video 1:58min. 2011
Left and Center: Installation View: Preview Art Fair, Berlin. Right: The reconstructed bedroom in the artist studio |
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At 21:50 the doctor measured blood pressure, body temperature and puls. Everything was normal. Blood pressure 115 over 75, temperature 36,7 and puls 64.
"You have to sleep now", he said.
"Sleep?.... Certainly", I replied obediently and went to bed.... After about 7 minutes I had fallen asleep.
Yuri Gagarin supposedly slept deeply and soundly the last night before his historic first flight into space. Truth? Soviet ideology? The obligatory narrative pattern of the Hero's Journey into the unknown?
I approach this night in a partly documentary partly fictional way: the results of extensive academic reserch (the reproduced photo of the room alongside quotes from books published about Yuri Gagarin) as well as a video presenting a replica of the room built in the artist's studio in a documentary style. A painted picture of Yuri is also shown in the presentation. This painting also occurs in the video, giving a hint at the fictional nature of the replicated room.
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Die letzte Nacht
Präsentationsmappe mit Fotokopie und Fotografie, Öl auf Papier, Video 1:58min. 2011
Links und Mitte: Installationsansicht Preview Kunstmesse, Berlin. Rechts: das im Atelier nachgebaute Schlafzimmer Gagarins. |
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Um 21:50 maß der Arzt den Blutdruck, die Körpertemperatur und den Puls. Alles war normal. Blutdruck 115 zu 75, Körpertemperatur 36,7 und Puls 64.
"Jetzt gehts schlafen", sagte er.
"Schlafen?... Bitte schön", entgegnete ich gehorsam und legte mich zu Bett... Nach ungefähr sieben Minuten war ich eingeschlafen.
In der letzten Nacht vor seinem historischen ersten Flug ins All soll Juri Gagarin tief und fest geschlafen haben. Wahrheit? Sowjetische Ideologie? Erzählzwang der Heldenreise ins Ungewisse?
Ich nähere mich dieser Nacht auf teils dokumentarischen teils fiktiven Wegen an: das Foto des Raumes zusammen mit Zitaten über diese Nacht, einem Video, das den von mir eigens nachgebauten Raum quasi-dokumentarisch abfilmt. Ein gemaltes Portrait Juris erscheint sowohl in der Präsentation als auch im Video und gibt damit einen Hinweis auf die fiktive Natur des nachgebauten Schlafzimmers. |
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Space Heroes I: Yuri Gagarin
Left: Portrait of Valentina Gagarina: Oil on canvas, 40 x 60 cm: 2007
Right: The Dream of Flying. Video - painted animation, 27 sec: 2008
Installation View: Out of Space, Intermedia Gallery, Glasgow |
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On the right hand side you can see stills from the video. I painted a plane in the sky with oil paints on grounded paper, took a photograph, then repainted the plane, took another photograph and so on. There is added sound of a plane.
Gagarin supposedly love flying which was the reason for him to become a pilot and then an cosmonaut. After his historic flight he was no longer allowed to fly planes because he was too precious as a spokesperson for the Soviet people. Unhappy about this, he finally fought his way back into being given permission to fly a plane in 1968. During this first flight after his trip into space, Gagarin crashed with his plane and died. |
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Die Helden der Raumfahrt I: Juri Gagarin
Links: Portrait von Valentina Gagarina: Öl auf Leinwand, 40 x 60 cm: 2007
Rechts: Der Traum vom Fliegen. Animation, 27 sec: 2008
Installationsansicht: Out of Space, Intermedia Gallery, Glasgow |
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Auf der rechten Seite sind Standbilder aus dem Video. Ich habe mit Ölfarben ein Flugzeug im Himmel auf grundiertes Papier gemalt, ein Foto gemacht, dann weiter gemalt und wieder ein Foto gemacht und so fort. Zu hören ist das Geräusch eines Flugzeuges.
Gagarin soll das Fliegen geliebt haben. Er wurde deshalb erst Pilot und dann Kosmonaut. Nach seinem historischen Flug ins All durfte er jedoch nicht mehr selbst fliegen, weil er zu wertvoll für die Sowjetunion geworden war. Gagarin soll darüber sehr unglücklich gewesen sein und lange dafür gekämpft haben, wieder in ein Cockpit zu steigen. Im Jahre 1968 erhielt er die Erlaubnis, wieder zu fliegen. Bei seinem ersten Übungsflug nach der Pause stürzte er mit dem Flugzeug ab.
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Space Heroes I: Yuri Gagarin
Oil on Paper, each 25 x 34cm: 2009
Installation View: Out of Space, Intermedia Gallery, Glasgow |
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| Series of paintings based on extensive reserach into the life of the first man in space, Yuri Gagarin. Displayed in a cluster, these unrelated images take on the character of a non-linear narrative. |
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Die Helden der Raumfahrt I: Juri Gagarin
mehrteilige Serie - Anzahl variabel, je 25 x 34cm.
Installationsansicht: Out of Space, Intermedia Gallery, Glasgow |
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| Serie von Bildern aus dem Leben des ersten Mannes im All, Juri Gagarin. In einem Haufen gehängt, fügen sich die bis dahin unzusammenhängenden Bilder sich zu einer neuen non-linearen Narration zusammen. |
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Alina
Installation with Video, 4:48min: 2005
Wood, curtains, wallpaper, carpet, MDF, wood veneer, mascots, posters, magazines, photos, medals, trophies |
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| The story of a fictional gymnast in which several layers of reality and fiction are blended together:, the artist’s own hand-held shots of ‘real’ gymnasts at the 2004 European Championship, TV footage of these gymnasts and made-up scenes filmed with an actress in the set of a typical gymnast’s bedroom. Within this framework of fact and fiction, the film explores subjects such as female identity, clichés and stereotypes, and questions of individuality and identity, such as the desire for the structure of a regimented subculture in an uncertain world. |
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Alina
Installation mit Video, 4:48min: 2005
Holz, Vorhänge, Tapete, Teppichboden, MDF, Klebefolie, Maskottchen, Poster, Zeitschriften, Fotos, Medaillen, Pokale. 2005 |
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| Die Geschichte einer erfundenen Turnerin, in der mehrere Ebenen von Realität und Fiktion miteinander verwoben werden: meine Aufnahmen einer ‚realen’ Turnerin bei einem Wettkampf (EM 2004), Fernsehbilder derselben Turnerin und fiktionale Szenen mit einer Schauspielerin in dem von mir gebauten Schlafzimmer des Mädchens. Innerhalb dieses Rahmens von Fakt und Fiktion, untersucht der Film auch Themen wie Individualität, weibliche Identität und Klischee, und hinterfragt die Anziehungskraft einer stark durchstrukturierten Subkultur in einer unsicheren Welt. |
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Alina
Paperback, 216 pages: 2000 |
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| The biography of a fictional gymnast, which combines text extracts from existing sources such as gymnastics magazines or real books on gymnasts with parts freely invented by myself. The invented passages are printed in italics, the "quotes" in regular print. |
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Alina
Taschenbuch, 216 Seiten: 2000 |
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| Die Biographie einer fiktiven Turnerin, die sich zusammensetzt aus Auszügen aus Turnzeitschriften, -webseiten und - büchern, und aus von mir frei erfundenen Passagen. Die von mir erfundenen Stellen sind dabei kursiv geschrieben, die "zitierten" Stellen gerade. |
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Excerpt / Ausschnitt 1 (p. 54/55):
The gymnastics boarding school: that is a corridor within the Cetate complex of the Romanian Gymnastics Federation. That is yound girls‘ rooms, a communal kitchen, a living-room, three washing machines. Fourteen girls from age 13 to 20 live here. The elite training centre fo the RGF: there are trips to school, homework, three teachers working shifts; there are between 38 and 46 hours of training per week. But there are also fun and girls‘ secrets, there is independence and self-confidence.
The girls are from all over Romania. Oana is from Sinincolau Mare, a town in the Banat region. „I have been doing gymnastics for over ten years,“ the temperamental girl with the cheeky grin says. „I can only develop further here in Deva.“
Excerpt / Ausschnitt 2 (p. 66/67):
Alina in particular was often asked what she felt during the competition. They wanted to know whether her young age and inexperience had affected her, especially during that disastrous beam routine.
„I wasn‘t really scared,“ she stated. „I was more anxious and excited about it because this was the Olympics... I was looking forward to competing. There was a full crowd. It was sold out. I hoped to win any medal. I really wanted to hit my routines and do the best I can. I can do a medal if I do that. First comes hitting my routines and doing my best.“
After the competition was over, Alina was free to enjoy the excitement of the Athletes‘ Village and of the city. Adrian took her and the other girls hopping and sightseeing. Alina wrote many postcards home to her family and friends. |
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Winners in Gymnastics
Series of Paintings, Oil on Canvas, 50 x 100cm each: 1998 |
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| Series of four paintings based on the children's book "Winners in Gymnastics". The texts at the bottom of the paintings are selected sentences from the text in the book. |
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Winners in Gymnastics
Serie Malerei, Öl auf Leinwand, jedes Bild 50 x 100cm: 1998 |
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| Serie von vier Ölbildern, deren Vorlagen aus dem Kinderbuch "Winners in Gymnastics" stammen. Auch die Texte am unteren Rand der Bilder sind ausgewählte Sätze aus den Buchtexten. |
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