5. A Notion Of Fragmentation 2016/2023
A Notion of Fragmentation ( 2023)
https://www.blurb.co.uk/bookstore/invited/10102213/690531783758985aae998cdf4d61b0e651267adc
Born in the 1960s in the GDR
” A generation without fatherland and mother tongue “
Heiner Müller
This quote by German author Heiner Mueller has haunted me since I read it some years ago. My generation was brought up in one part of a divided Germany, without knowing the other side. With the fall of the Wall, my roots planted in an artificial totalitarian system became invalidated and irrelevant.
I have been living in England for 31 years, a bit longer than I lived behind the Berlin Wall. However, I always feel something is missing, a gulf of understanding between myself, my experiences and my current surroundings.
I am unable to feel grounded, my references to my previous life have a disconnect from the culture of the UK, but also from the culture of the New Germany. I can’t relate to it either.
Writing and reading helps me to understand my work process and provides a focus, something I can hold on to. It has developed into a compulsive necessity. The notebooks act as a vehicle for Heimatgefühl (sense of home).
I make objects out of pages from my notebooks, and personal documents and place them into familiar surroundings, both in Berlin and here in England to try to physically connect these places. The objects I have constructed act as a filter and distort the view through the lens, transforming the image and eliciting a response. I feel memories reconstruct themselves, making new connections. Words and numbers appear, a sense of something intangible begins to reveal itself. Recollecting, reiterating and visualising these thoughts; this process of re-examination provides a sense of orientation.The feeling of disconnectedness changes into something I can identify with and have ownership of.
Original Photo Print on Aluminium Backing Image size: 40 x 40 cm
https://www.blurb.co.uk/bookstore/invited/10102213/690531783758985aae998cdf4d61b0e651267adc
Born in the 1960s in the GDR
” A generation without fatherland and mother tongue “
Heiner Müller
This quote by German author Heiner Mueller has haunted me since I read it some years ago. My generation was brought up in one part of a divided Germany, without knowing the other side. With the fall of the Wall, my roots planted in an artificial totalitarian system became invalidated and irrelevant.
I have been living in England for 31 years, a bit longer than I lived behind the Berlin Wall. However, I always feel something is missing, a gulf of understanding between myself, my experiences and my current surroundings.
I am unable to feel grounded, my references to my previous life have a disconnect from the culture of the UK, but also from the culture of the New Germany. I can’t relate to it either.
Writing and reading helps me to understand my work process and provides a focus, something I can hold on to. It has developed into a compulsive necessity. The notebooks act as a vehicle for Heimatgefühl (sense of home).
I make objects out of pages from my notebooks, and personal documents and place them into familiar surroundings, both in Berlin and here in England to try to physically connect these places. The objects I have constructed act as a filter and distort the view through the lens, transforming the image and eliciting a response. I feel memories reconstruct themselves, making new connections. Words and numbers appear, a sense of something intangible begins to reveal itself. Recollecting, reiterating and visualising these thoughts; this process of re-examination provides a sense of orientation.The feeling of disconnectedness changes into something I can identify with and have ownership of.
Original Photo Print on Aluminium Backing Image size: 40 x 40 cm
