Annika Eriksson
14 Apr - 17 Jun 2012
Artistic Dialogues III
ANNIKA ERIKSSON
The Trilogy
14 April - 17 June 2012
Internationally recognized Berlin based Swedish artist Annika Eriksson’s solo exhibition project “The Trilogy” opens at the 4th floor of Künstlerhaus Stuttgart with new works.
The show is the latest chapter in the ongoing series ARTISTIC DIALOGUES and comprises a trilogy of videos, including the premiere of Eriksson’s new work, It did happen soon (2012) alongside the recent video installations Wir sind wieder da (2010) and Wir Bleiben/The Last Tenants (2011).
The works are realized as an ongoing dialogue with times of transition, here explored both through moments of resistance and disobedience as well as times of exhaustion and passivity. In the realizations of these three works, Eriksson has used Berlin, where she lives and works, as a starting point and as a place where science fiction as a time warping device can be put to work.
The new video work, It did happen soon, emerges from research done into the writings and experiences of iconic Berlin based collective Kommune 1, often described as Germany’s first politically motivated commune. Here the experiences of some of the leading figures and of the movement are pushed into temporal ambiguity as the narrative around the desire and drive for transformation is transported into an ambiguous time and space. Here documentary material merges with material from science fiction narratives in a three-part loop delivered by a young actor.
A similar sense of time being broken down, non descript of lost can be sensed in Eriksson’s video installation of Wir sind wieder da. In this work, the viewer is confronted by a group of Berlin punks hanging out in a seemingly endless dark space. As one of the key local figures of the Berlin identity, the punks manifest their position with “doing nothing“. In the piece, Failure as success appears as the motto in the subtext, and the glamour comes with smoke and wind. The punks appear like ghosts, but are still able to give us a feeling about future scenarios of how the tomorrow could be imagined.
Wir Bleiben/The Last Tenants is based in a grey seemingly unassuming house in Berlin-Mitte where the artist used to live for some years. The house was built in 1755, and has survived through centuries, decades, and two World Wars. At the time of shooting Wir Bleiben, however, the building was waiting for a total transformation as it was to be redeveloped into high-end private flats. Portraying the last four tenants of the building, the piece is based on their decision and resistance to claim their rights to stay.
Annika Eriksson is a Swedish artist living in Berlin. Later commissions include: Wir Bleiben/The Last Tenants commission for “Europe n”, GFZK, Leipzig, solo show, NON Gallery, Istanbul “The Parade” for Grazer Kunstverein, A Rehearsal/Fable of the Bees for NON-Stage, Istanbul , 2011; Wir sind wieder da for DAAD Galerie, Berlin, I’m still waiting for you for Hayward Gallery, London, The Kitchen and Hannah Arendt Band for “Correct me, if I’m critical“, Felleshuset and Restaurant Nest, Berlin and Restaurant Yakup, Istanbul in 2010. Maximum Happiness for “Yes, No and Other Options“, Sheffield Biennale 2008. Upcoming activites during 2012 include; “The Best of Times, The Worst of Times. Rebirth and Apocalypse in Contemporary Art“, Kiev Beinnale, “When Attitudes Became Form Becomes Attitudes“ at Wattis Institute for Contemporary Art, San Fransisco, and a solo show at Krome Gallery, Berlin.
ANNIKA ERIKSSON
The Trilogy
14 April - 17 June 2012
Internationally recognized Berlin based Swedish artist Annika Eriksson’s solo exhibition project “The Trilogy” opens at the 4th floor of Künstlerhaus Stuttgart with new works.
The show is the latest chapter in the ongoing series ARTISTIC DIALOGUES and comprises a trilogy of videos, including the premiere of Eriksson’s new work, It did happen soon (2012) alongside the recent video installations Wir sind wieder da (2010) and Wir Bleiben/The Last Tenants (2011).
The works are realized as an ongoing dialogue with times of transition, here explored both through moments of resistance and disobedience as well as times of exhaustion and passivity. In the realizations of these three works, Eriksson has used Berlin, where she lives and works, as a starting point and as a place where science fiction as a time warping device can be put to work.
The new video work, It did happen soon, emerges from research done into the writings and experiences of iconic Berlin based collective Kommune 1, often described as Germany’s first politically motivated commune. Here the experiences of some of the leading figures and of the movement are pushed into temporal ambiguity as the narrative around the desire and drive for transformation is transported into an ambiguous time and space. Here documentary material merges with material from science fiction narratives in a three-part loop delivered by a young actor.
A similar sense of time being broken down, non descript of lost can be sensed in Eriksson’s video installation of Wir sind wieder da. In this work, the viewer is confronted by a group of Berlin punks hanging out in a seemingly endless dark space. As one of the key local figures of the Berlin identity, the punks manifest their position with “doing nothing“. In the piece, Failure as success appears as the motto in the subtext, and the glamour comes with smoke and wind. The punks appear like ghosts, but are still able to give us a feeling about future scenarios of how the tomorrow could be imagined.
Wir Bleiben/The Last Tenants is based in a grey seemingly unassuming house in Berlin-Mitte where the artist used to live for some years. The house was built in 1755, and has survived through centuries, decades, and two World Wars. At the time of shooting Wir Bleiben, however, the building was waiting for a total transformation as it was to be redeveloped into high-end private flats. Portraying the last four tenants of the building, the piece is based on their decision and resistance to claim their rights to stay.
Annika Eriksson is a Swedish artist living in Berlin. Later commissions include: Wir Bleiben/The Last Tenants commission for “Europe n”, GFZK, Leipzig, solo show, NON Gallery, Istanbul “The Parade” for Grazer Kunstverein, A Rehearsal/Fable of the Bees for NON-Stage, Istanbul , 2011; Wir sind wieder da for DAAD Galerie, Berlin, I’m still waiting for you for Hayward Gallery, London, The Kitchen and Hannah Arendt Band for “Correct me, if I’m critical“, Felleshuset and Restaurant Nest, Berlin and Restaurant Yakup, Istanbul in 2010. Maximum Happiness for “Yes, No and Other Options“, Sheffield Biennale 2008. Upcoming activites during 2012 include; “The Best of Times, The Worst of Times. Rebirth and Apocalypse in Contemporary Art“, Kiev Beinnale, “When Attitudes Became Form Becomes Attitudes“ at Wattis Institute for Contemporary Art, San Fransisco, and a solo show at Krome Gallery, Berlin.