First Look: Critical Distance

As promised, I've uploaded a selection of my almost complete, gallery-formated work called Critical Distance in the past few days. You can see it in the posts below. Edited into diptychs, triptychs and single photographs, I envision to show the final series in a montage sequence (see installation sketch), a blend of here and there and nowhere. The photograph above, Zur Heimat, is the directive and iconic 'cover' image for Critical Distance - a perpetual absence of home.

Selected Diptychs

These diptychs are comprised of photographs taken in Germany and edited in a way that attempts to address my complicated and critical position regarding Heimat in the series Critical Distance - a perpetual absence of home. (Click images to enlarge.)

Bleiben (2010), digital c-print, 37 x 81.5 cm, edition of five (+2 AP)

Zuhause (2010), digital c-print, 37 x 81.5 cm, edition of five (+2 AP)

Zurücklassen (2009), digital c-print, 37 x 81.5 cm, edition of five (+2 AP)

Anlegen (2007), digital c-print, 37 x 81.5 cm, edition of five (+2 AP)

Erkunden (2008), digital c-print, 37 x 81.5 cm, edition of five (+2 AP)

Im selben Boot (2008), digital c-print, 37 x 81.5 cm, edition of 5 (+2 AP)

Entstellt (2009), digital c-print, 37 x 81.5 cm, edition of five (+2 AP)

Nicht plakatieren! (2010), digital c-print, 37 x 81.5 cm, ed. of 5 (+2 AP)

Fluchtwege (2007), digital c-print, 37 x 81.5 cm, edition of five (+2 AP)

Alltag (2007), digital c-print, 37 x 81.5 cm, edition of five (+2 AP)

Zumutung (2010), digital c-print, 37 x 81.5 cm, edition of five (+2 AP)

Unbekannt (2010), digital c-print, 37 x 81.5 cm, edition of five (+2 AP)

Selected single images from "Critical Distance"

These single images function as punctuations within the syntax of Critical Distance, providing rhythm and pause. The images, taken at airports and in planes, depict the places that are most removed from any form of Heimat or utopian imaginary. They are generic places masquerading a sense of comfort, familiarity and security. (Click images to enlarge.)

Anderes Deutschland (2010), digital c-print,
37 x 48 cm, edition of five (+2 AP)

Untitled (2010), digital c-print,
37 x 48 cm, edition of five (+2 AP)

Über den Wolken (2008), digital c-print,

37 x 48 cm, edition of five (+2 AP)

Lucky People (2010), digital c-print,

37 x 48 cm, edition of five (+2 AP)

Untitled (2008), digital c-print,

37 x 48 cm, edition of five (+2 AP)

Favorite Place (2008), digital c-print,

37 x 48 cm, edition of five (+2 AP)

Untitled (2008), digital c-print,

37 x 48 cm, edition of five (+2 AP)

Untitled (2008), digital c-print,

37 x 48 cm, edition of five (+2 AP)

Miles (2008), digital c-print,

37 x 48 cm, edition of five (+2 AP)

Golden (2010), digital c-print,

37 x 48 cm, edition of five (+2 AP)

Selected Triptychs

Please find below a selection of the triptychs from my series "Critical Distance - a perpetual absence of home"; see also previous post for more information:

Belonging (2010), digital c-print, 37 x 115 cm, edition of five (+2 AP)

Another Story (2010), digital c-print, 37 x 115 cm, edition of five (+2 AP)

Contested (2010), digital c-print, 37 x 115 cm, edition of five (+2 AP)

Good Homes (2009), digital c-print, 37 x 115 cm, edition of five (+2 AP)

yet to be titled (2010), digital c-print, 37 x 115 cm, edition of five (+2 AP)

Engineered Desire (2009), digital c-print, 37 x 115 cm, edition of five (+2 AP)

yet to be titled (2010), digital c-print, 37 x 115 cm, edition of five (+2 AP)

Old World (2010), digital c-print, 37 x 115 cm, edition of five (+2 AP)

yet to be titled (2010), digital c-print, 37 x 115 cm, edition of five (+2 AP)

What Place? (2009), digital c-print, 37 x 115 cm, edition of five (+2 AP)

"Critical Distance" almost completed

Initially and foremost conceived as a book project, I am now almost finished editing my images of Critical Distance - a perpetual absence of home also into exhibition-ready works. It has been a four-year long process, and I am excited but also anxious about reaching the final stretch.

framed photo / installation view

I have produced a number of triptychs, diptychs and single images for this "gallery format" of the series. The triptychs consist of images taken in the US, reflecting on my state-side quasi "triple identity" and contemplating the location, significance and meaning of Heimat (home/land). The diptychs, on the other hand, are edited together from images I took in Germany and are often more polemical about the politics of belonging, representation and the writing of history - from the perspective of this East German. I envision the triptychs and diptychs to hang in a somewhat interchanging sequence, interrupted occasionally by single images, positioned below or above (see sketch below), that depict views from or of planes and airports.

installation sketch - click to enlarge

In the next few days, I will introduce here the majority of these new works. Please feel free to comment and critique them. Meanwhile, I hope to find opportunities to exhibit the full series. Excerpts could be seen in two small exhibitions in Germany last fall (see previous blog entries).

If you would like to get in touch with me regarding Critical Distance, you can e-mail me here. If you are interested in acquiring works from this series, please contact me or Galerie Vahinger (Germany).

Also, I am still looking for a publisher for the book version of Critical Distance. It will probably undergo another edit before it (hopefully) will become available as printed matter. Copies of the self-published limited edition are no longer available.