Skip to content

Sometimes awful things

From the series: Sometimes awful things· 2011 – 2012
Performance · 2011
Single channel HD film with stereo music and sound only · 3’56 · 2011 · Edition of 10 + 2 AP
2 photographs · Edition of 10 + 2 AP


Sometimes awful things have their own kind of beauty I, photograph by Sylvia Schwenk

Sometimes awful things have their own kind of beauty I · photograph · 2011

Watch the film

A mesmerising film of a man who dances with a lawnmower. He is listening to the music of a harrowingly beautiful waltz as he mows the lawn in an area surrounded by alarmed perimeter fencing and razor wire. The lawn is surrounded by 20 magnificent towering palm trees. It is an oasis in the maximum-security area of the prison, that offers a respite from the confinement of the prison cells and the cold metal surfaces and concrete. It almost seems surreal. The air seems sweeter and fresher here.

The waltz is filled with hope but is underwritten with a score of despair.

Sometimes awful things have their own kind of beauty II, photograph by Sylvia Schwenk

Sometimes awful things have their own kind of beauty II · photograph · 2011

Sometimes awful things have their own kind of beauty is both the name of this work and the name of the series it leads. The series is about prisoners and people who were committed in mental asylums. The works consider spaces, lives and environments that are off limits to most of society, and reflect on what performance means for those who live where private and public co-exist.


Opening minute · Sometimes awful things have their own kind of beauty · 2011

Also in this series

Sometimes awful things have their own kind of beauty

For collectors

Sometimes awful things have their own kind of beauty is available as a performance work, single-channel HD film and 3 photographs. Works are a limited edition of 10 + 2 AP and start from €700 unframed.

Enquire about this work

For galleries and curators

Sometimes awful things have their own kind of beauty is available for exhibition, screening, loan, and re-performance. Proposals and studio visits are welcome.

Discuss an exhibition