Can you briefly introduce yourself ?
I am a freelance sound artist. I work site-specifically and research-based on everything that make sounds. The main instrument is the voice as a versatile, sometimes rattling, sometimes purring sound machine. Thematically, my works revolve around memory culture and the coexistence of human animals and machines.
What makes Leipzig attractive for you as an artist?
Leipzig is very valuable to me as an artist because autonomous initiatives are possible and here, and many exist independently of large institutions. I appreciate the exchange and the peace, the neighbourly proximity, and the artistic connection to the surrounding space. A good place to work free(r).
What have you been busy with lately and what are your projects for the near future?
Just finishing a very long project on the early concentration camp Oranienburg – the project includes an audio walk and a publication that will be released in early September. Next I plan to work on the subjectivity of cars, as well as a project on colonialism and information technology. And then there is the never-ending task of freeing myself from internal and external pressures.
Do you feel any capitalist pressure in your artistic life? What would it be like without it ?
Yes, definitely, in every pore, in my demons of performance pressure. What would it be like without these demons, without the pressure? That’s a difficult question. After all, it is easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism. I think it would be good if there were a state in which one could be permissive and free and at the same time not be at the mercy of such (subliminal) existential pressure. How can that be done? Through solidarity and networks among artists, and also through better nationwide, financial, and not so short-term support, perhaps.
What are your influences and inspirations, your focus in your work?
Talking to artist friends, listening to the radio, exhibitions, other people’s theoretical texts. Which other works inspire me in particular changes very often, and mainly through inspiring conversations and connections. Most recently, I was very impressed by the work of the Pungwe collective. If I were to start here now thanking the people who give me new ideas, I would very likely forget a great many, or never finish. I am very grateful to this network. In relation to the work exhibited here, the conversations with Clemens von Wedemeyer, Angelika Waniek, Alicia Franzke, Paul Hauptmeier, Martin Recker, Stefanie Smolkina, Su Yu Hsin, the visits to the museums in Limbach-Oberfrohna, Weimar and Chemnitz, and the collaboration with the team – Maxi Pongratz, Marie Wolff, Johannes Gabriel and Julia Preuß were very important for me. Also inspiring were the texts “Marx’s Ghosts” by Derrida and “Animism” by Anselm Franke and Irene Albers.
If Leipzig were a sound, what would it be ?
Ratatatatatatplingpapperlapappbumbambängzack.
