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A heap of stones is not a machine, whereas a wall is already a static proto-machine, manifesting virtual polarities, an inside and out, an above and below, a right and left...
F. Guattari, Chaosmosis
“For Mr David Bowie, who recorded some of his most mysterious audio tracks in the Neukoelln district of Berlin, the first reaction on seeing the Berlin Wall crumble was “like seeing an old friend on the floor”. It seems rather doubtful to us, in the short term at least, that inhabitants of both sides of this frontier between two systems at war for control of our souls would think the same as Mr Bowie and show such a propensity for romantic licence …”
Thus commences Lux Lindner’s introduction to the catalogue accompanying Lena Szankay’s photographic exhibition Zeitgeist Berlin, which opens on Thursday 19 November 2009 in VVVgallery.
In commemoration of the 20 year anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the artist exhibits images of a world on the verge of disappearance: the months prior to and following the events of 9 November 1989. We see a West Berlin bathed in bohemian atmosphere, time stood still, underground culture; an ideal city for artists and young people with political and aesthetic concerns. This was a life that the artist identified with and was completely immersed in, observing with certain disconcertion the twists of political affairs and urban change. The exhibition also presents us with introspective images of an existentialist character in the form of body fragments bearing scars and self-portraits, presented in a profound black and white and bringing to mind the temporary nature of human life.
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