| GEBURT DER VENUS Video, 2017 In the video "Geburt der Venus" by Barbara Schmid and Ulla Sladek, Venus is born out of a ceramic Camera Obscura. It's not a clean or painless act: hands break and destroy the Camera. The moist clay and the developing tray filled with coffee mix and become a dark, earthy liquid which reflects the red light of the dark room. In the work, the photographic process which is distanced, technical and visual is approximated the ceramic process which focuses on the haptic and tactile. The work moves back to the beginnings of photography when it was referred to as the "light-born goddess" (Erwin Fiala) and to the beginnings of life when the tactile sense was central for exploring and observing our environment and ourselves. The photographic result is unique: The light- and mud-born Venus, who just didn't want to adapt to the guidelines of Botticelli's painting: She is neither naked nor is her body shaped in a graceful S-curve.(Barbara Schmid und Ulla Sladek) |
SCHMID / SLADEK AT Ulla Sladek is a sociologist and photographer. She studied sociology in Graz and Maastricht, graduated in 2004 and participated in the course of lectures for Fine Art Photography & Multimedia Art at the Ortweinschule Graz (2010 - 2013). In her works she is interested in which role photography plays in constructing social circumstances. Currently, both artists work in studios in the city of Graz at the former Tagger Areal.
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