Cutter | 2010
Live performance, 50 min (produced by Xing/Raum)

A sharp instrument removes from printed images all that might be threatened with extinction or that has already become extinct: glaciers, seabeds, natural panoramas, flowers, plants, animals. By subtracting elements from each frame within a sequential whole, new relationships begin to emerge. Varied and at times contrasting attitudes are echoed—ranging from the painstaking excavation of a botanist to the work of a cynical surgeon, or a ruthless tourist at play. From Robinson Crusoe’s deserted island to the equatorial forest, from nature’s sonic explosion to the perfect design of flowers and plants, from deserts to the Alps, we contemplate the wonders of the Earth, fascinated and dazed all at once. Perhaps we are all tourists admiring the Himalayas with a cheeseburger in hand.

Cutter – artist’s books | 2010–in progress
Hand-cut artist’s books

This selection of artist’s books articulates a new relationship with the photographic image. The artist’s body is no longer present within the representation as a self-portrait; however, his involvement in the composition remains deeply palpable through the incisions made into the images, removing portions of them with a sharp utility knife. These cuts reveal subjects that are endangered or already extinct: animals, fruits, people, natural landscapes, flowers, plants, and more. The subtraction of compositional elements, image after image, generates new relationships across the sequence and interlocking layers of the pages.

Gente di Kau (from the series Cutter) I 2010

hand-cut book pages | 24×31.8×3 cm; lime wood frame (7×30 mm profile, black finish), anti-reflective glass with 70% UV protection, 1 cm cardboard spacer, acid-free foam board, rear subframe with 2 concealed hangers.

This series is created by hand-cutting pages from the photobook The People of Kau (Gente di Kau) by German photographer Leni Riefenstahl. The volume documents the culture of the Nuba peoples of Sudan, specifically the Kau tribes, which are today extinct.

Riefenstahl’s work—an author initially aligned with the Nazi regime and later detached from it in the name of culture and knowledge—allows the artist to explore the concept of the mask and staging as central elements of many ritual practices.

DATA | 2011
Paper, 3M Photo Mount spray adhesive, Plexiglas

The cutouts excised from the pages of the books are collected inside Plexiglas panels—fragments classified according to the spatial and temporal order of the book to which they belonged. Numbering connects each piece back to its original position within the image. When the clippings cannot be traced back to a specific book because the matrix has been lost, they are left loose within a space that gathers them and identifies them as n.p. (no page).

Folder | 2012
Folded pages from books, Foam-Core (Poliplat), pins, Plexiglas

Multiple pages are selected in succession from original publications; through the simple gesture of folding and securing each page to the next with a pin, a new sense of spatiality and temporality is brought to life.