| x |
13.06. - 31.08.2002 |
||||||||
|
David Fried |
|||||||||
|
Texts in english / deutsch >
Interactive Sculptures /
SOS -
Self
Organizing Still Life
In bed with Lucy and Dolly Fried creates large gaseous vesicles in a totally darkened room using infrared goggles, and at the decisive moment, photograms them onto grainless color sheet-film . Specifically, using the shadows of objects –even transparent things - to make an image on photosensitive material using only light and the light sensitive material. No camera, no Lens. What we see in his enlarged c-prints are the latent shadows and spectral aberrations of these transparent forms. The title refers to Lucy (the early hominid Mother), to us (the Myth), and to Dolly-the-sheep (the Missing Link) in a dialogue that seeks orientation in a world in which man has moved from controlling the environment to the inescapable urge to invent our predecessors. Fried takes us on a biomorphical journey from the Cambrian sea to the artificial womb. Rainscapes Fried captures strongly individual patterns of rainfall on large format color film. Rich chromatic variations are revealed by the prismatic effect of light passing through each individual raindrop, evoking a spacious cosmic look. Fried’s large-scale Rainscape photographs exude a quiet replenishing quality that unloads poetically within the viewer. Observing what gives rise to civilizations, or may ultimately lead to their demise, Fried sees freshwater as problematic in the 21st century. Since ancient times, with prayer and ritual - to science and its rituals, humans have wished to influence the weather, and although the collective human pursuit has undoubtedly had profound affects on the ecosystem, we are luckily still unable to control bigger systems such as the weather. Rain still falls freely through the world’s trees, and harvesting hands before completing it’s cycle. However, access to - and usage of - clean water is being moved into increasingly privatized hands, servicing industry more than local needs and down river ecosystems. Fried’s Rainscapes portray sweet water at its birth and invites us to contemplate its worth as we become its temporary custodians.
Vesicles of endeavor Deutsch: Fried kreiert, ausgestattet mit einer Infrarotbrille, in einem vollkommen abgedunkelten Raum große Blasen und erzeugt im entscheidenden Moment ihr Fotogramm auf kornlosen Farbfilmbögen. Er nutzt die Schatten der - hier sogar transparenten - Objekte, um ein Bild auf den Film zu bannen. Er verwendet also ausschließlich Licht und lichtempfindliches Material, keine Kamera, kein Objektiv. Was wir auf seinen vergrößerten C-Prints sehen, sind die Schatten und die Spektralabweichungen der transparenten Formen. Der Titel bezieht sich auf Lucy (die frühe Menschenmutter), auf uns (den Mythos) und auf Dolly, das Schaf (das Missing Link). Sie stehen in einem Dialog, der die Orientierung in einer Welt sucht, in der sich die Menschheit von der Kontrolle ihrer Umwelt bereits wegbewegt, hin zu dem unvermeidlichen Drang, unsere eigenen Vorfahren neu zu erschaffen. Fried nimmt uns mit auf eine biomorphische Reise vom Cambrischen Meer zur künstlichen Gebärmutter. Rainscapes Fried bannt die höchst individuellen Muster des Niederschlags auf großformatige Film. Durch den prismatischen Effekt, wenn Licht den einzelnen Regentropfen passiert, entstehen reiche chromatische Variationen und erzeugen einen räumlichen, kosmischen Eindruck. Frieds “Rainscape” – große Fotografien strömen für den Betrachter eine stille, poetische Anmut aus. Mit dem Blick darauf, was zum Aufstieg von Zivilisationen oder zu ihrem schlussendlichen Niedergang führen mag, sieht Fried Trinkwasser als das Problem des 21. Jahrhunderts. Seit alters her haben Menschen den Wunsch gehegt, das Wetter beeinflussen zu können, durch Gebete und Rituale bis hin zur heutigen Wissenschaft mit ihren Methoden. Und obgleich dieses gemeinsame menschliche Streben zweifellos einen tief greifenden Einfluss auf das Ökosystem hatte, sind wir glücklicherweise immer noch unfähig, größere Systeme wie das Wetter zu steuern. Wasser fällt immer noch frei durch die Bäume dieser Erde und durch die Hände des Landmannes, bevor es seinen Zyklus vollendet. Dennoch liegt die Herrschaft über den Zugang und die Nutzung von frischem Wasser zunehmend bei der privaten Wirtschaft, die der Industrie mehr dient als den lokalen Bedürfnissen und den Ökosystemen flussabwärts. Frieds “Rainscapes” zeigen frisches Wasser bei seinem Entstehen und laden uns ein, über seinen Wert nachzudenken und so für kurze Zeit zu seinem Hüter zu werden.
Sound
stimulated interactive sculptures
Whatever the scale or materials used for the SOS, all of these works consist of solid spheres, which are stirred into motion by ambient sound on a predetermined level object. Audible sound is transformed live into waves that silently stimulate each of the spheres into motion. The resulting action of the individual spheres and their interactions with one another are undetermined. They rearrange themselves in continually new patterns of elegantly fluid choreography. Some kiss, some spin off alone, while others race head-on only to meet with a soft embrace, or swerve around one another, often changing the path and destiny of each other without physical contact, as each sphere is able to feel one another. Fried is able to give an individual character to each of the solid hand-made spheres, allowing them to respond and behave differently to live sound, though the artist is able to give each entire SOS a particular overall tendency of choreographic response. Like two people would dance differently to the same music, the spheres interact in a unique and live choreography directly initiated by its environment. When an acoustic signal is no longer detected, the spheres come to rest in ever-different constellations. (Still-Life) As we simultaneously influence and trace the movements of the spheres, our attention becomes increasingly focused on the non-linear dynamic relationships that unfold between them, effectively shifting the emphasis away from the individual objects themselves towards a highly subjective glimpse of the bigger picture. Creating a complex live visual experience, Fried‘s interactive sculptures are compelling by their symbolically provocative simplicity, as the viewer is moved to forge perspectives on relationships, life and the universe of thought. Scroll
down for images of Self Organizing Still-Life Sculptures. Deutsch: Self Organizing Still Life Akustisch stimulierte, interaktive Skulpturen
Den SOS-Skulpturen, bei allen Unterschieden in Größe und Material, sind Kugeln gemeinsam, die auf der ebenen Fläche eines Steinobjekts durch Geräusche aus der Umgebung in Bewegung gesetzt werden. Töne werden ohne Verzögerung in Wellen umgewandelt, die lautlos jede einzelne Kugel zur Bewegung anregen. Die resultierenden Aktionen der einzelnen Kugeln und die Interaktionen untereinander sind nicht prädeterminiert. Sie ordnen sich in fortwährend neuen Mustern einer eleganten, flüssigen Choreographie neu. Einige berühren sich zart, andere drehen sich weg, während wieder andere frontal aufeinander zurasen, um dann sanft umeinander zu kreiseln oder sich doch auszuweichen. Oft verändern sie, ohne physisch Kontakt zu haben, gegenseitig den Weg und damit das weitere Schicksal. Jede Kugel ist fähig, die andere zu spüren. Fried ist in der Lage, jeder einzelnen der handgefertigten Kugeln individuelle Eigenschaften zu verleihen, ihnen damit die Möglichkeit zu geben, anders auf aktuelle Geräusche zu reagieren und sich unterschiedlich zu verhalten; dabei kann der Künstler durchaus jedem SOS eine bestimmte Tendenz choreographischen Verhaltens mitgeben. Als würden zwei Personen unterschiedlich zur selben Musik tanzen, interagieren die Kugeln einzigartig und lebendig, beeinflusst von ihrer Umgebung. Wenn die akustischen Signale ausbleiben, kommen die Kugeln in immer neuen Konstellationen zum Stillstand: Stillleben entstehen. Während wir mit Geräuschen die Bewegungen der Kugeln beeinflussen und zugleich nachvollziehen, wird unsere Aufmerksamkeit zunehmend auf die nicht-linearen dynamischen Beziehungen gelenkt, die sich zwischen ihnen ausbilden. Der Fokus verschiebt sich damit vom Blick auf die Einzelobjekte hin zu einer in hohem Grade subjektiven Sicht eines höheren Gesamtgefüges. Eine vielschichtige, lebendige Erfahrung schaffend, bestechen Frieds interaktive Skulpturen durch ihre symbolisch provozierende Einfachheit. Der Betrachter wird angeregt, eine neue Sicht auf Beziehungen, auf das Leben und das Universum der Gedanken zu gewinnen. Scroll
down for images of Self Organizing Still-Life Sculptures.
Biography
2007 Genesis - The Art of Creation, Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern,
Switzerland. 2005 Regionalmuseum Xanten, "Distribution of fate" 2004 Gallery Brenner, Düsseldorf 2003 Gallery Adler, Frankfurt: "Missing Link", at BigArt projectspace 2002
Gallery Poller, Frankfurt "Self
Organizing still Life"
----- --video performance at Jörg Immendorff
Studio
2006 Gallery Sara Tecchia, NYC 2005 Galerie Poller Frankfurt at: Art Frankfurt 2004 Skywatch, K26, Frankfurt 2004 Galerie Adler Frakfurt at: KunstKöln, Scope London, Art.Fair 04 Cologne 2004 Galerie Poller Frankfurt at: KunstKöln, Art Frankfurt, PalmBeach3, --------Photo New York - Metropolitan Pavillion, Photo London, Galerie Poller 2004 Museum Kunst Palast, Düsseldorf 2003 Galerie Poller Frankfurt at: Art Frankfurt, Art Expo Düsseldorf 2003 Kunstmuseum Ahlen 2002 Pfalzgalerie Kaiserslautern 2002 Kunstmuseum Heidenheim 2002 Kunst in Bewegung - Traveling Exhibition: KunstMuseum im Kulturspeicher Würzburg 2002
Gleicher Ort Neue Zeit, Düsseldorf
Interview excerpt from an article by Christopher Chambers on David Fried
Following is a discussion with the artist regarding his ideas and motivations: CHRISTOPHER CHAMBERS: Regarding your recent works, the Self Organizing Still Life sculptures and the In bed with Lucy and Dolly photograms: At first glance these appear to be two completely unrelated seriatim. Do their themes spring from a common underlying concept? What are the ideas that led you in these directions and how do they tie together? DAVID FRIED: I have always worked from concept. Finding the right medium to fit the concept - or in the case of the SOS sculptures combining techniques and even inventing new mediums like interactive granite - allows me much greater flexibility to express my ideas. Consequently, I am free to pursue ideas that might not have occurred to me if I were to begin within the constraints of a single medium. Still, the road between intent and outcome may take some incubation time and a lot of patience to develop skills previously unpracticed. For instance, before the first functioning SOS was created, I needed 2 years of research. I had to take my ideas from pure theory to engineering reality, which as a painter was completely new for me. This process incorporated studying physics, mould making, working with stone and electronics, and then, putting it all together in this unique way - that was extremely challenging for me. Back to your question: My particular concepts themselves are guided by certain criteria which are essential to all my works both past and present. One of the basic criteria leading up to both the SOS and the Lucy & Dolly work was, to find a way of expressing my understanding of life in a symbolic way that could reveal networks of relationships which do not follow linear and hierarchal patterns. C.C.: Those concepts are also apparent in chaos and deep-ecology theories. Was this a source of inspiration? D.F.: Let's say, the research and understanding of certain individuals who are now able to prove those theories has given me a feeling of reassurance because although Descartes is long gone, the separatist view of the world still has a very firm grip on the way technology, culture, and politics are moving. The knowledge is there, but the model has not been fully adopted. I'd say my experiences growing up in the New York City with its quick moves, abrupt truths, and do-or-die endeavors; with all these people networking within the framework of such a concentrated and diverse environment, has probably been a much greater source of inspiration as to how I see relationships, and the impact certain individual actions can have on the whole - be it of private, cultural, or even of spiritual nature. So, I'd like to stress that I am not merely attempting to illustrate scientific understanding. I want to create works that explore inter-dependant relationships and the energy distributed within a dynamic but closed system, and subsequently, raise questions about contemporary individuality within the global village. C.C.: So, philosophically, you are positioning yourself as a sort of catalyst, a fulcrum between science and the sublime? D.F.: By way of choosing my subject matter, perhaps yes, but there is no attempt to be didactic here. I can only hope to pass on what interests me, in a way that is accessible to as many cultures as possible. This is not art-about-art, nor is it a manifesto of what could be. Since years, I have distilled the imagery of my work into more and more symbolic forms that can trigger fundamental senses common to the human experience. Like, music doesn't beg for explanation. If my work can connect with a layman, that's good, regardless of their interpretation. This is liberating for me also because so much of what we see in the arts lately is so specific, and often very inaccessible indeed. Of course as we speak there is a great deal of background information that can be communicated, but I try to make that aspect somewhat less important in my work. Although people are also very curious about the technical aspects of the SOS sculptures, any knowledge of it's hand engineered system simply cannot help you access the content any better. Y'know, technical queries are clearly beside the point, and when I'm asked; how does it work? My answer often follows, "It does! How you work with it is primary." C.C.: We are living through yet another revolution in communications technology. Do you think the future of art will also thrive on the accessibility offered by e-mail, sms, chat rooms and the like?
C.C.: Would you please explain your reference in the title of the photographic works to Dolly, the first cloned sheep? D.F.: With her arrival (Dolly), a media star was born. Suddenly everyone knew a barrier was shattered between mankind's practice of altering his environment, and mankind's attempts at re-inventing himself. Man has always looked for what separates himself from other species. For me, Dolly became the missing link, fulfilling man's need to be supreme. On the other hand, Lucy, an ancient hominid, is a woman of more uncertain origin. Although we can clearly interpret her physiological nature, the question is still posed, "How intelligent was she really?" Well, at least clever enough to eat, sleep and reproduce biologically, which is more than I can say for our predecessors. So we find ourselves in bed with our own past and future, trying to orientate ourselves to this "brave new world." C.C.: By being "in bed" with ourselves, are you inferring that society is ailing or lame? D.F.: Yes, but not incurably so. If we are making genetic cookbooks, we must be prepared to sit at the table with our own creations. Now, away from the title, I mean, just looking at the work, the structure of the bubbles themselves reveal to us a very delicate balance between water and air, and more symbolically, remind us of just how fragile and beautiful the architecture of nature is. Though they are pre-biological, they could appear as primordial cells, or test-tube creations. By combining several of these images in sequence they take on a genetic code look. Whereby the SOS, through it's reduced form, motion and interactivity, is able to provoke interpretations about relationships from anywhere between the social level and the cosmos, the Lucy & Dolly works deal more specifically with processes that lead to biological life. They are also symbolic of a non-hierarchal, but corruptible network. Also related is the "Santiago Theory of Cognition," which postulates that cognition itself is closely linked to "autopoiesis;" the self-generation of living networks. The defining characteristic of such a system is that it undergoes continual structural change, while preserving its web-like pattern of organization. It also states that a nervous system or a brain is not required to do this! Such a system learns by feedback-loops and is continually exchanging with, and adapting to its environment. These principles of self-organization and the creation of new structures are applicable to biological life, but it can also to be applied to perception: emotions, social behavior, weather and the entire ecosystem on the whole. C.C.: Do you propose that society in general will eventually come to respect the finite fragility of the Earth as an inherently closed metabolic system? D.F.: Right now, political problem solving certainly has not displayed much enlightenment in this area. You know, there is a very old hygienic saying that states that you aren't supposed to shit where you eat. We must learn now that this is utterly false, there is no elsewhere! But before this becomes common sense to the industrialized world there will first have to be a major crisis for change to take hold, as if we don't have enough already. C.C.: Let's hope it doesn't boil over too soon. D.F.: Yes, we just might be able to avoid the kind of confrontations that arise from disinformation and a lack of respect for the common condition of mankind in the age of abbreviation and qualitatively changed means of communication like the e-mail, and web-forum systems you mentioned before, and even when the myth of progress and science no longer serves philosophy and wisdom in our societies, we still have individuals and communications to help share information and experience in a less corruptible way. C.C.: Your SOS objects invite you to "communicate" with them too. Why did you choose to explore sound as the stimulus? D.F.: Sound and communication play a major roll in the development of many species and their social spheres. The acronym SOS itself stands for more than communicating a distress call. It indicates belonging to an unwritten social contract simply by being a human. To integrate this I thought the stimulus should be something that we all depend on, but also be something that can be interpreted very differently. Like you and I would dance very differently to the same music, so do the SOS spheres. I give each sphere a different individual character. They also affect one another's path by their individual actions, and even cause feedback through the production of their own sounds of clicking, and so on. The sound sensor allows the SOS to be a Still Life when all is quiet, and a moving object when dialogue occurs. Of course, it can also be stimulated by other sounds that occur when people are active. The SOS can be "tuned" so that it may only hear the very loudest of sounds, or allow it even to hear a whisper. Another aspect is that the use of sound as a stimulus allows the artwork to extend beyond its own borders, integrating itself in a dialogue with its environment.
"...my works aim to build bridges of thought that transcend a maximum diversity of language, culture and understanding, yet inspire very specific concepts in each." David Fried Fried’s works echo our process of seeking and learning, as we plunge into the polarities of 21st century thought and deed. Prof.
Dr. Norbert Bolz
|
From the series: In bed with Lucy and Dolly / c-print on diasec. Click imges to zoom.
From the series: Vesicles of endevour / c-print on diasec
From the series: Rainscapes / c-print on diasec
Self Organizing Still-Life / Interactive Sculptures Click on images for Streaming-Flash-Movies with Sound:
Self Organizing Still-Life at Night of the Museums / 1.8mb
KunstMuseum Würzburg / 2.8 mb
Self Organizing Still-Life / Pvt.Collection Brussels / 2.3mb
Self Organizing Still-Life "Clone1" / 1.5mb |
|
|||||||
|
|
|||||||||
|
© David Fried &
GALERIE POLLER |
|||||||||