from distant times and places (2009)

“In front of the mirror, the No-player puts on the mask and  transforms himself. He transforms into the countenance of the mask, which he sees in the mirror. In front of the mirror, he reveals himself in order to become another one. The mirror is not a narcisststic space, but a place of transformation.” – Byung-Chul Han, from: Philosophie des Zen-Buddhismus

Masks, understood as images with underlying archetypes, have the power to transport something very ancient and distant and connect it with the present moment. A seeming emptiness of the mask allows multi-layering and complexity in expression.

The actual face can also become a mask – rigid, altered, distorted.  Or reveal very intimate feelings. To move – being moved. An emerging image is also always a projection of the viewer. And to form an impression on someone is again a way of fixation.

It is also about moving along the fine line between close/intimate – distant/unknown, and the confrontation of the self with the other. What does it mean, “to loose one’s face”? What happens, if the own face becomes an unknown landscape?

Es wird noch ein Aug sein
Ein fremdes, neben
Dem unsern: stumm
Unter steinernem Lid
– Paul Celan

In FROM DISTANT TIMES AND PLACES, the stage becomes a place of transformation. A multi-layered collage is been formed, which offers views into the inner and outer.