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Stefan Silies & Till Nachtmann »The enchanted Lieutenant«

Opening: 26.09.08, 19 Uhr

Exhibition: 26.09.-24.10.08

Opening hours: tue. - sat. 2 pm - 7 pm

Laser-chronicles and blueprints

Stefan Silies and Till Nachtmann have been working as a team with lasers, rockets, LEDs, mopeds, pinhole cameras and socks in Cologne, Kassel, Leipzig, NewYork, Korea, in the Ruhr Area and in Belgium since 1999. For the current exhibition their alter ego, the enchanted lieutenant, is sent on a search for the stars. He discovers new luminaries, then he becomes stuck between earth and the stars, transmitting to Strindberg: analysis, search, inhaling, using a telescope and eating space food, eye movement, pause, darkness.

NASA images, star signs and a roadmap. Again and again messages, coated by white noise, which cannot be decoded: maximum reached, all controller to ten, insuperable resistance.

Meanwhile astronomy. Maps and models are being studied. This correlates with an upward motion, that can be measured in meters and spatialization of mental activity. Inevitably, you detect analogies with all kind of explorers through the centuries: goodbye, hello Jules Verne and Gene Roddenberry
And save: expose your brain activities. There is no better form for it than the cyanotype, the blueprint. Every single step in this process is very accurate and it is easy to integrate those coincidental results that have been provoked on purpose. Substantial knowledge can be gained by brushing, applying, scrolling and fixing the images. The paint brightness in a cyanotype is neither stable nor homogeneous. This links cyanotype with starmapping. It's luminosity that decides whether a star is catagorized as traceable or as a phenomenon.

These patterned skies in a cyanotype are unique copies on paper. Hanging on the wall, they form a chart room. In the back of the room you see a greenish, artificial light. No human life, but moving beams and something that catches your eye at once.

Its source is a "laserblock", which creates a dim, greenish reflection on the ground. The laser projects a looped sequence of bright lines on a white wall. The male protagonist is shown in outline.

Looking at the projection, you see a series of movements and modes of behaviour, which are in accordance with the rhythm of day and night.
The laser keeps the memory.

Stefanie Manthey