‣THREE QUESTIONS TO

ANNA TILL &

HEIKO WOMMELSDORF

​

 

You have been in Chemnitz (on the road) for a few weeks now:
What are your / your impressions of the city? Have you noticed anything in particular? Why? What differences do you see, for example, compared to your home cities of Dresden and Hamburg?

​

Anna: "For me, Chemnitz is above all: having a lot of space. Wide streets, big houses, few people. That leaves a lot of free space. I'm quite impressed by all the different cultural initiatives that use this space to shape the diverse subculture and always seek a strong connection to the urban society of Chemnitz. In contrast to Dresden, which has been almost renovated to death in recent years and mainly cultivates its baroque heritage, stylistic breaks are visible in Chemnitz. I am much more reminded of the GDR past by certain buildings or monuments from that time. I enjoy that in a strange way. There is not one image, one aesthetic of Chemnitz. Chemnitz is like a jigsaw puzzle in which individual pieces have been lost over time and replaced by new ones. A cluster without a centre."

​

Heiko: "For me, Chemnitz was a blank slate. I knew the label Raster-Noton or Raster-Media and beyond that nothing except for the events from 2018. Compared to Hamburg, the extreme vacancy here on Sonnenberg is an absolute extreme. There are no vacancies in Hamburg and whole houses are empty here. Nevertheless, I got to know Chemnitz enthusiastically. The "Gegenwarten/Presences" exhibition and the "Hang zur Kultur" coincided with my first week in Chemnitz. In addition, there was a wonderful bicycle tour through Chemnitz with the curbside lobby and a warm acquaintance with the Galerie Borssenanger and the Galerie OSCAR in the Weltecho."

​

Within the framework of the dialogue fields 2020 Von Sinnen (Of the Senses), you dedicate yourself to the sense of touch and the sense of hearing: Are there any impressions that you draw from the Sonnenberg in particular? What are they specifically? How are they reflected in your work?

​

Anna: "Touch is the sense that locates me in the world. By picking up information through touch, I recognise the temperature of a surface, feel whether it is soft or hard and at what distance I am from an object. For the time being, this is independent of the exact environment. With the help of touch, I relate my body to its environment. That is decisive for me. To move the body into the centre, so to speak, and to position it. In this case in the Sonnenberg. Where do I pass quickly? Where do I want to linger? Which surface structures have I perhaps never noticed before? Which corners and edges offer space for the body to adapt to, to crawl into? Which surfaces are wide and large so that they can be used as a stage?"

​

Heiko: "I have been working as a sound installation artist since 2007. My focus has long been on sounds of urban space, although I very rarely exhibit outside of a gallery/museum. I position ventilation/air conditioning systems, radiators, fluorescent tubes or water drops in downpipes in exhibitions. I am therefore very happy about the invitation to work directly in urban space. With a decibel meter in hand, I have taken many walks through the neighbourhood, and the results of my tours will be presented from 31.10."

​

Can you each give us a little preview of the work in progress? What can visitors look forward to during the presentation week from 31.10. to 06.11.?

​

Anna: "I would like to try something at DIALOGFELDERN that I have never done before.  Normally, my work is characterised by minimalism, precision and artistic dialogue; moreover, I mainly produce pieces for the (theatre) stage. This time I'm going into the urban space and working intensively with a special material: foam. I have found an oversized costume as a performance partner, so to speak. The object consists of different polygon shapes (concept and construction: Tobias Eisenkrämer) and is a bit bigger than me. I am inside the object, so my body disappears almost completely, but moves the material from the inside. There are also several holes that I use to give the foam creature arms, legs and a head. In this way, I palpate the city, the sun mountain."

​

Heiko: "In my work "Sound Power Level Chemnitz-Sonnenberg", the ticking of traffic lights, the hum of ventilation systems, the whirring of electricity boxes and other noise generators in public space are measured. With a sticker, the passer-by is informed that there is something to hear here. To find the places where I measured and labelled the sound power level on Sonnenberg, you get a map of the neighbourhood with markings and further information."

​

​