birds and clouds
Performance · 2012 · Sylvia Schwenk and Nikola Dicke
Interactive installation with 3 channel HD film with stereo music and sound only · 3’ loop · Each film has an edition of 10 + 2 AP
2 channel HD film with stereo music and sound only · 28 mins 51′ · Edition of 10 + 2 AP
5 origami crane sculptures · 120 x 120 x 120 cm
20 photographs · Edition of 10 + 2 AP
Book · birds and clouds with essay by Florian Waldvogel · 27 pages
birds and clouds from one life to another by Sylvia Schwenk and German artist Nikola Dicke references Bertolt Brecht’s poem The Lovers, which centres on the lives of a flock of cranes. Over 300 people come together in the German/Dutch border town of Bad Bentheim to watch and participate in the work.
Model airplane performance · Bad Bentheim · 2012
birds and clouds · model airplane performance II · photograph · 2012
birds and clouds · model airplane performance III · photograph · 2012
Three model airplane clubs from these two countries fly their planes as a large group, each club with its own distinct choreographed flight set to music composed for the performance. Model airplane pilots typically fly alone, never in formation. Now they fly like a flock.
Origami crane sculptures · 2012
birds and clouds · origami crane sculpture I · photograph · 2012
birds and clouds · flight of the cranes I · photograph · 2012
After the model airplane performance, the audience and pilots fold small origami cranes and build large origami crane sculptures. These are later flown over the airfield in a third performance, also set to music. The event ends with a barbeque where connections made during the performances continue.
Origami workshop · 2012
birds and clouds · origami workshop I · photograph · 2012
birds and clouds · origami workshop II · photograph · 2012
The work draws on the everyday. Model airplanes, origami and shared meals are each familiar pleasures, but not usually experienced together. By combining these through this collective and playful event, birds and clouds from one life to another gives them a new aesthetic quality. Like the cranes in Brecht’s poem, the meaning of the work takes flight when these newly created actions combine.
Extract from publication birds and clouds from one life to another
birds and clouds from one life to another adopts a socio-political approach that simultaneously activates spatial and social processes and negotiates the political and aesthetic field. Art as a moment of revelation, not creating life through imitation or reflecting life’s context to represent content, but to be aware of the reality of life. Art not as a tangible physical representation, but as a way of thinking.
Florian Waldvogel, 2012, published in birds and clouds from one life to another: a project by Sylvia Schwenk and Nikola Dicke — Waldvogel is Director of the Hamburg Kunstverein, Germany
Opening minute · birds and clouds – Model Aiplanes · 2012
For collectors
birds and clouds from one life to another is available as a performance work, 3 channel HD film, 2 channel HD film, 5 origami crane sculptures, 9 photographs and a book. Works are a limited edition of 10 + 2 AP and start from €3,000 unframed.
Enquire about this workFor galleries and curators
birds and clouds from one life to another is available for exhibition, screening, loan and re-performance. The book is available to accompany the exhibition. Proposals and studio visits are welcome.
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