Dichter
Four-channel HD color video transferred from 16 film, with sound, 32 min. 13 sec.; 24 min. 10 sec.; 22 min. 51 sec.; 24 min. 46 sec., 2017
In October 2016 the artist Dara Friedman held an open audition in Berlin and actors were asked to bring a poem that was personally meaningful to them. These poems express feelings of frustration, confusion, and anger, but also passion, wonder, and vitality. Sixteen of these poems were recorded later that month in a photography studio in Kreuzber. The artist adapted Jerzy Grotowski’s voice training techniques to fill the speaker’s body with his or her own sound waves. Through this method the entire body speaks, not only the mouth, and there is a clear understanding of the poem. This is a further exploration of “thinking with the body” which the artist has explored through previous works such as “Dancer”, “Musical” and “Play”.
Four large vertical projections consisting of four 16mm film tracks transferred to video, run as an endless loop. These four stacks consist of four, short poems each— for a total of 16 poems and are balanced on top of one another as frames of uneven size. These poems appear in a sloppy, checkerboard pattern and each poem “speaks” for the same amount of time that it is silent. Occasionally this results in all 16 actors speaking simultaneously and the effect is a chaotic assault. However, at other times their words and phrases can be heard distinctly and separate from the dim, creating glinting, suspended moments of silver clarity. The artist also presents a series of 16 unique rings, displayed in a vitrine in the small room of the gallery. The simple design of the ring is made to bring the subterranean geological phenomena of the precious metals and gemstones to the wearer’s hand.
Together with: Helena Abay, Esther Hafner, Steff Jungen, Daniela Marcozzi, Maria Raisch, Norbert Rost, Roman Schomburg, Katja Tannert, Anna Villinger, Katharina von Harsdorf, Martina Ysker, Anni Sutany, Michael Lämmermann, and Laura Sophia Becker.
Poems by: Anna Achmatova, Ingeborg Bachmann, Rolf Dieter Brinkmann, Charles Bukowski, Erich Fried, Goethe, Mascha Kaléko, Karl Levy, Alda Merini, Christian Morgenstern, Rainer Maria Rilke, Joachim Ringelhatz, W. Wallroth.