Anja

A GERMAN-ISRAELI COLLABORATION (initiated by schir.net)

From January to July 2010 German and onwards artist Anja Sieber and Israeli writer Galit Seliktar were engaged in a dialog on the subject area of language and image. Galit Seliktar writes and speaks Hebrew. Anja Sieber creates images and sculptures on the basis of what she hears. In her work the visual language becomes a new form of communication, reflecting emotions that flow from rhythm and sound of the spoken word. Both artists did not understand the language used by their counterpart. Is it, in the realm of art, possible for them to find a way of comprehension anyhow? The setting raised numerous questions which the artists investigated in their collaboration:

 

• How does communication materialize itself in a situation like this?

• How are ideas transformed from one medium into another?

• How is comprehension achieved without translation?

• What role do elements like sounds, letters and colors play in the artistic process?
   

The artist's rich and complex exchange within the dynamic field of visual and verbal forms of expression initially took place in virtual space. In July 2010 the first face-to-face encounter took place in Berlin, where the artists worked together for one week. The processes of the exchange as well as their results have been presented to an audience in a live-performance at the Akademie für Malerei in Berlin.

 

A catalogue and an interview in German and English were published. 

 

Friederike Schir (formerly Schwarzer)