(C) 2014 Max Kropitz
ROUNDTABLE
Field research
Max Kropitz
Entangled in his research on lies and deception Max Kropitz's eye was caught by “The Language of Flowers”, a book, written
by the poet and feminist Lady Mary Wortley Montagu in the early 18th century. The book started a trend within the Victorian
high society and soon sending secret messages in flowery form was established as a means of communication and developed
social technique. A complexity that nowadays seems to have been faded and transformed as has the variety of flowers,
that is available in today’s boutiques.
Drawing inspiration form this world of dangerous liaisons, intrigue and secrecy, Kropitz created a series of photographs,
portraying the depicted, holding a flower of their choosing between their teeth. The covering of the mouth refers to the speaking
character of flowers as well as to the secrecy of said messaging, an aspect that is rooted in the point of departure
of Kropitz's research.
Said photgraphs, impressive as they may be by themselves, might prove to be only a part or the beginning of an ongoing
development.
Maria C. Hilber
Being in an earlier stage of orientation, Maria C. Hilber presented various dimensions of her work ranging from modes
of thinking, inspired by Deleuze's and Guattari's Thousand Plateaus, over the suspense between science and pseudoscience
to the phenomenon of synaesthesia. While those aspects are intuitively linked, they are related to three individual projects,
that are now in the planning stage.
Hilber plans to develop an “animal rhapsody”, a work that involves animals and could lead to a film and might make use
of infrared photography.
Another project involves around the “Secret life of plants”, a book by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird that was widely popular in the seventies. Being criticized as pseudoscientific it caused however, that research regarding plants and their forms of communication has had difficulties being taken serious at all, no matter how sensible the research was performed.
The last project Hilber presented, dealt with the issue of "unexpected emotions". Inspired by the phenomenon of synaesthesia, she conducted a small survey, asking the participants to write an emotion, that is very particular, strange or surprising on a piece of paper. The answers might be used as the project evolves.
Another project involves around the “Secret life of plants”, a book by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird that was widely popular in the seventies. Being criticized as pseudoscientific it caused however, that research regarding plants and their forms of communication has had difficulties being taken serious at all, no matter how sensible the research was performed.
The last project Hilber presented, dealt with the issue of "unexpected emotions". Inspired by the phenomenon of synaesthesia, she conducted a small survey, asking the participants to write an emotion, that is very particular, strange or surprising on a piece of paper. The answers might be used as the project evolves.
ROUNDTABLE
March 13, 2014, 09:30h
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Team
- Brishty Alam (Artistic and scientific assistance)
- Valerie Deifel (Artistic and scientific assistance)
- Virgil Widrich (Artistic direction)
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Students
- Maria Christina Hilber (Presentation)
- Max Kropitz (Presentation)
- Simon Sailer (Protocol)