Alexander Heim
31 Aug - 13 Oct 2012
ALEXANDER HEIM
Cruise
31 August to 13 October 2012
We are very pleased to present new works by Alexander Heim (*1977 in Hamburg, lives and works in London) in his first solo exhibition in our gallery. Alexander Heim shows in his exhibition Cruise works in a range of media, as he already did in the group show L'Objet invisible in the year 2011. The common element in these different works is their origin depending on the accurate observations of a discreet flaneur in the threshold region between men and nature.
The prelude to the exhibition is marked by two relief works made of metal sheets cut by Alexander Heim out of bonnets. These Anglo-Saxon Bonnets determine the first exhibition room visible from the street.
Alexander Heim gave the found bonnets a new shape by simply cutting them in two and re-arranging the two positive and negative forms. The resulting configurations are opening up manifold layers of meaning: as the collages are based upon technically manufactured bonnets their impressions are on the one hand pointing towards technical objects, such as floating guardian figures and robots from ancient times, on the other hand through their erect position on the wall they can be read as oversized graphic characters or hieroglyphics. The colours of the reliefs depend on the colours of the found bonnets. Alexander Heim didn't add any new elements, but just altered through slight adjustments the original form of the bonnets and put them eventually into a new semantic field.
In the middle room of the gallery Alexander Heim reveals his new video Norwegian Jade. The video hovers in the middle of the space above the heads of the public on a flat screen hanging from the ceiling.
Norwegian Jade emerged on a cruise in the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands. The title of the video is the name of the cruise ship. In the mobile hotel, a technological monster, able to withstand the forces of nature, Alexander Heim found a perfect setting to stroll around as a silent flaneur. By doing so, many views worth recording opened up. Already the chosen character, an Art-Deco-style, for the title of the video hints to the fact, that Alexander Heim employs a special technique to unfold the "reality" of a cruise.
He not only chooses special settings and views of the ship but also dedicates a lot of attention to the audiotrack. This becomes apparent in the opening sequence of the video as the noise of insects transforms the beholders in a mediterranean environment. Then Heim approaches with the camera the swaying ship body. His glance stops at little details like for example the grid structure of a net protecting the pool on deck or the passing view of the curved horizon in the bent windows. The lostness of the passengers is indicated in the mechanical movement of the abandoned gambling machines and is amplified through occasional derisive laughter in the background. The ship through its dimensions and its speed displaces a huge amount of water, forming a menacing wave at the rear, following the ship like a shadow, a tsunami, but never reaching it.
One of the highlights of the account is a short leave, a journey to the volcanic island Lanzarote. As a bystander Alexander Heim films the bus moving through the volcanic landscape, which resembles the surface of Planet Mars. Then he approaches the scene keeping a certain condign distance through an artificial soundtrack as the sound of the steps of the visitors was added later in the studio. This artificial sound lends to the scene an alienating, even reifying impression, as if a big dome of glass had been put over the island, lending to the steps the unfamiliar echo of an interior. The people are walking a little bit insecure over the ground, as they are for the first time touching solid ground after many days on sea.
Unsteady, a little bit lost they are walking in their colourful leisure wear over the lava flows.
Beside the touching video Alexander Heim shows delicate collages, which in their production and appearance resemble the Anglo-Saxon Bonnets. With simple means, coloured cardboard and scissors, Alexander Heim composes these collages, which allude to coat of arms, futuristic knights and outlines of sculptures. In his work Alexander Heim amazes the viewers through the simplicity of his gestures and through his subtle but also relentless glance. The works assembled in his exhibition create a contemplative, slightly melancholic mood from which the public can't escape.
Cruise
31 August to 13 October 2012
We are very pleased to present new works by Alexander Heim (*1977 in Hamburg, lives and works in London) in his first solo exhibition in our gallery. Alexander Heim shows in his exhibition Cruise works in a range of media, as he already did in the group show L'Objet invisible in the year 2011. The common element in these different works is their origin depending on the accurate observations of a discreet flaneur in the threshold region between men and nature.
The prelude to the exhibition is marked by two relief works made of metal sheets cut by Alexander Heim out of bonnets. These Anglo-Saxon Bonnets determine the first exhibition room visible from the street.
Alexander Heim gave the found bonnets a new shape by simply cutting them in two and re-arranging the two positive and negative forms. The resulting configurations are opening up manifold layers of meaning: as the collages are based upon technically manufactured bonnets their impressions are on the one hand pointing towards technical objects, such as floating guardian figures and robots from ancient times, on the other hand through their erect position on the wall they can be read as oversized graphic characters or hieroglyphics. The colours of the reliefs depend on the colours of the found bonnets. Alexander Heim didn't add any new elements, but just altered through slight adjustments the original form of the bonnets and put them eventually into a new semantic field.
In the middle room of the gallery Alexander Heim reveals his new video Norwegian Jade. The video hovers in the middle of the space above the heads of the public on a flat screen hanging from the ceiling.
Norwegian Jade emerged on a cruise in the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands. The title of the video is the name of the cruise ship. In the mobile hotel, a technological monster, able to withstand the forces of nature, Alexander Heim found a perfect setting to stroll around as a silent flaneur. By doing so, many views worth recording opened up. Already the chosen character, an Art-Deco-style, for the title of the video hints to the fact, that Alexander Heim employs a special technique to unfold the "reality" of a cruise.
He not only chooses special settings and views of the ship but also dedicates a lot of attention to the audiotrack. This becomes apparent in the opening sequence of the video as the noise of insects transforms the beholders in a mediterranean environment. Then Heim approaches with the camera the swaying ship body. His glance stops at little details like for example the grid structure of a net protecting the pool on deck or the passing view of the curved horizon in the bent windows. The lostness of the passengers is indicated in the mechanical movement of the abandoned gambling machines and is amplified through occasional derisive laughter in the background. The ship through its dimensions and its speed displaces a huge amount of water, forming a menacing wave at the rear, following the ship like a shadow, a tsunami, but never reaching it.
One of the highlights of the account is a short leave, a journey to the volcanic island Lanzarote. As a bystander Alexander Heim films the bus moving through the volcanic landscape, which resembles the surface of Planet Mars. Then he approaches the scene keeping a certain condign distance through an artificial soundtrack as the sound of the steps of the visitors was added later in the studio. This artificial sound lends to the scene an alienating, even reifying impression, as if a big dome of glass had been put over the island, lending to the steps the unfamiliar echo of an interior. The people are walking a little bit insecure over the ground, as they are for the first time touching solid ground after many days on sea.
Unsteady, a little bit lost they are walking in their colourful leisure wear over the lava flows.
Beside the touching video Alexander Heim shows delicate collages, which in their production and appearance resemble the Anglo-Saxon Bonnets. With simple means, coloured cardboard and scissors, Alexander Heim composes these collages, which allude to coat of arms, futuristic knights and outlines of sculptures. In his work Alexander Heim amazes the viewers through the simplicity of his gestures and through his subtle but also relentless glance. The works assembled in his exhibition create a contemplative, slightly melancholic mood from which the public can't escape.