DIE VERGESSENE ERINNERUNG
The Forgotten Memory
“The Forgotten Memory” examines the processes of aging, the erosion of memory, and the ways in which dementia reshapes human relationships.
Although rooted in personal experience, it reflects a universal phenomenon that often remains unacknowledged until it affects us directly.
This reluctance to confront the more challenging dimensions of aging—such as cognitive decline and physical limitation—stands in contrast to contemporary ideals celebrating the “young elderly” or “best agers.”
​
As the filmmaker Akira Kurosawa observed, to be an artist is to never look away, but to search, discover, and truly see.
Thus, this work is an attempt to look, to search, to discover—and to see anew.
EINMAL WISCH UND WEG - JUST ONE WIPE
Disposable gloves are almost always worn when caring for the elderly. There are good reasons for this from a hygienic point of view. Nevertheless, from a human point of view it is sad since the touch becomes 'dehumanized'.
Where remains the human touch when the loved ones live far away? Due to the increasing shortage of staff, the motto 'fed - clean - medicated' is to an increasing extent the one that counts.
'Einmal Wisch und Weg' (Only one wipe) does, unfortunately, not only refer to the disposable glove.
DIE VERGESSENE BIOGRAFIE, 2018 -2019
(THE FORGOTTEN BIOGRAPHY)
A dress made of ca. 300 disposable gloves, inscripted with my mother's biography / 1.50 m length
DAS ERSTE HEMD, 2020
Dress made from disposable gloves, tied, stuffed, printed with family photos / Length ca. 1.20 m)
DAS ZWEITE HEMD, 2020
Dress made from disposable gloves, tied, stuffed, printed with family photos / Length ca. 1.10 m)
DAS ZWEITE HEMD, Detail
DAS LETZTE HEMD, 2020
Dress made from disposable gloves, tied, stuffed, printed with family photos / Length ca. 1.0 m)
DAS LETZTE HEMD, Detail
DAS ERSTE HEMD, Detail
STOLA, 2019
Object / Stola / Disposable gloves, filling material / length 1.5 m)
ZUSTAND, 2019
(CONDITION)
Object / Stola / Disposable gloves, wooden balls, filling material / length 1.8 m)
SCHLEIER DES VERGESSENS, 2020
(Veil OF FORGETTING)
Family photos handprinted on silk with acrylic transfer, maniputlated (torn & repatched again), handmade silverchain / 115 x 55 cm, chain 60 cm)
DAS LIED DES ERINNERNS UND VERGESSENS
(THE SONG OF REMEMBERING AND FORGETTING)
Installation
​
Music plays an important role in dealing with people with dementia. Melodies stay in the memory longer and can open doors to buried memories.
​
Visitors of the exhibition are invited to touch the installation in order to explore its images and its sound.
DAS LIED DES ERINNERNS UND VERGESSENS, 2020
(THE SONG OF REMEMBERING AND FORGETTING)
​
Installation of up to 70 piano keys handprinted (variable, adjustable to space) with digitally manipulated family photos (acrylic transfer) and handwritten excerpts from my mother's memoires.
The piano keys are strung onto a steel rod, which hangs from the ceiling. When the visitors touch the installation, it will start to swing just like the memories of a demented person when listening to melodies of forgotten times.
​
​Dimension: ca 55 x 125 cm
​
The installation can be combined with DIE LEERE GREIFEN / GRASPING THE EMPTINESS, 40 hands out of handmade paper (life-size).
Forgetting is like Grasping the Emptyness (Ins Leere Greifen).
DIE LEERE GREIFEN, 2020
(GRASPING THE EMPTINESS)
40 hands out of handmade paper (life-size)
Video of THE SONG OF REMEMBERING AND FORGETTING from an exhibition at the Association of Berlin Artists (2021)
