Installation in Art Cologne
 

The visitor enters a darkened room in which no spatial boundaries can be discerned. Images of street scenes are projected on five Plexiglas sheets which are hung in two rows at equal distance one behind the other, creating an illusion of perspective which draws the visitor into the space. As the visitor moves into this space his/her gaze is met by the projected gaze of unknown pedestrians - images recorded on various streets in numerous European cities. One street fades into the next; the locations change at irregular intervals, but the unknown passers-by stay standing and glancing into the camera - frozen on the spot . The movement of the street continues to flow past the frozen pedestrians until the next passer-by glances into the camera and this moment is also captured. The passers-by ”frozen” on the screen are layered one frame over the next forming a continually growing group of individuals before the constantly changing background of new streets and new locations. In addition to the projected images the space is filled with a hubbub of voices, similar to that which can be heard on a busy city street. Only on closer listening does the exhibition visitor recognise the fact that individual voices are telling very intimate and personal anecdotes. The visitor can wander through newly created streets and listen in on these inner monologues. The memories and stories were collected by means of a public call asking for contributions to be sent anonymously. The anonymity of the texts creates space within the work for the visitors own ”projections”. The viewer can make associative connections between the individual stories and their own experiences. Whenever I observe something or someone on the street, something in my imagination is triggered off – a memory, an intimate moment, a story without beginning or end. In this moment the street is no longer a faceless or anonymous place which I simply pass through, but rather it becomes a ”privileged” place, a space in which I am no longer a stranger.