"Rückkehr der Wölfe" - Sven Johne
01 Sep - 02 Oct 2006
Sven Johnes’ word and image cycles, in which ostensible documentary narration and atmospheric selection of image material conflate, have drawn sustainable attention in the past months.
In his two new works he stays true to his narrative approach but takes the step from observing chronicler to acting agent and respectively narrates a story of speechlessness and the attempt of approach between two generations in a ‘moving picture’.
In his work Wanderung durch die Lausitz Sven Johne literally followed the footsteps of the wolf. In five diptyches – all dark-greenish, infrared night shots – he tried to catch the archaic image of the freely straying wolf; up to now, there exists indeed no documentation of it in Germany. What he has found, however, are places that wilderness slowly takes back. A place, where people either make a futile attempt to sustain an ostensible order or deal offensively with the fate of a staged Western town. What is left is the intriguing question whether you track down the wolf or if he already awaits you. The border between civilization and wilderness seems to become permeable.
In his video piece Elmenhorst Sven Johne debates in a different way the imagery of border and respectively its overcoming. A familiar situation: a stroll at the beach, father and grown-up son. It’s clear: they have to talk! But only speechlessness prevails and has obviously for a long time. Gestures and mimics reveal accumulated aggression, mutual misunderstanding and at the same time desperate endeavor as well as a core of familial intimateness that has yet not completely submerged. It needs a bang, a gun -shot to break the overpowering quietness and the wall of silence. Only the implied violence and the joint experience of pulling the trigger seem to enable a chance for communication.
opening hours: Tue. - Sat 11-18 h
In his two new works he stays true to his narrative approach but takes the step from observing chronicler to acting agent and respectively narrates a story of speechlessness and the attempt of approach between two generations in a ‘moving picture’.
In his work Wanderung durch die Lausitz Sven Johne literally followed the footsteps of the wolf. In five diptyches – all dark-greenish, infrared night shots – he tried to catch the archaic image of the freely straying wolf; up to now, there exists indeed no documentation of it in Germany. What he has found, however, are places that wilderness slowly takes back. A place, where people either make a futile attempt to sustain an ostensible order or deal offensively with the fate of a staged Western town. What is left is the intriguing question whether you track down the wolf or if he already awaits you. The border between civilization and wilderness seems to become permeable.
In his video piece Elmenhorst Sven Johne debates in a different way the imagery of border and respectively its overcoming. A familiar situation: a stroll at the beach, father and grown-up son. It’s clear: they have to talk! But only speechlessness prevails and has obviously for a long time. Gestures and mimics reveal accumulated aggression, mutual misunderstanding and at the same time desperate endeavor as well as a core of familial intimateness that has yet not completely submerged. It needs a bang, a gun -shot to break the overpowering quietness and the wall of silence. Only the implied violence and the joint experience of pulling the trigger seem to enable a chance for communication.
opening hours: Tue. - Sat 11-18 h