Annika Eriksson and Adnan Yildiz in conversation (English/pdf)

Annika
Eriksson
The Trilogy
14.04.–17.06.
Annika Eriksson: “Wir Bleiben/The Last Tenants”, Videostill, 2011
English
A Prologue for The Trilogy
Adnan Yildiz
‘I think it is us who make the future. The future is the way we react to what
is happening, it is the way we transform a movement, a doubt into truth. If
we want to be masters of our future, we must fundamentally pose the question
of what today is’. Michel Foucault. (1994). ‘Le monde est un grand
asile’. In Dits et Ecrits vol. 11. Paris: Gallimard, p. 434. (This passage trans.
Clare O’Farrell).
Annika Eriksson’s solo exhibition project, “The Trilogy” brings an initial
question with its direct title. Why does the artist set three of her recent
video works together in a trilogy; which is commonly a form mostly adopted
in literature, film and theatre? When William S. Burroughs was writing
The Nova Trilogy he experimented a lot with the limits of editing and narration.
The cut-up method, which is a form of cutting the text into pieces
and randomly combining them repeatedly, was one of the main artistic
tools in his process. According to him, the methodological aspect of his
experiment was related with a mathematical extension of his narrative
techniques as a “sequel”. In an interview with him done by Eric Mottram
in 1964, his intention is clear with this statement: ‘I am attempting to create
a new mythology for the space age. I feel that the old mythologies are
definitely broken down and not adequate at the present time…’
Eriksson’s trilogy departs from a similar methodological need. The first
Eriksson video for the trilogy - which was produced in Berlin in 2010
– confronts the viewer with a group of Berlin punks hanging out in a
seemingly endless dark space. Eriksson says that they represent more
than who they really are. They are depicted as beautiful, as the lower
class figures from Velazquez paintings, and are reminiscent of the nihilist
manifestation from Nietszche’s Zarathustra. Then, in the second piece,
“Wir bleiben / The Last Tenants” (2012) Eriksson developed one of the
most personal works that she has ever realized until now; bringing together
some of her neighbours in Berlin. The piece starts right after they
were informed that they were to be evicted by the company who bought
the building, like many others in Berlin Mitte. The only feeling of the location
and the architectural reality is communicated through the flag hung
outside of the apartment with the text, “Wir bleiben/We’re staying”. Rather
than pointing at what is already called gentrification by politically correct
discourses, Eriksson is taking a critical position and showing us where
resistance could be clearly seen in the transition of personal stories.
The final part of the trilogy, “It did happen soon” (2012) is based on a long
research process. It departs from the legend of Kommune 1, which is one
of the first political communities of Germany and fictionalizes a story of a
young man who talks about his life in past. Even though he does not look
like he belongs to that time period – as an artistic strategy of playing with
our perception of time - he convinces us with the details of his story. He
is back to where he used to live, but he knows that he cannot believe in
what he used to.
“The Trilogy” juxtaposes the past tense with present situations in transition,
reformulating common questions: What holds us together? What
makes us a community? How valuable is the time we spend together?
Spaces we share?
Regarding the current transformation of the global economic crises, occupy
movements, and resistance, what we need to change today is laying
down just over there in between what we have inherited from the past and
what we expect from future.
Annika Eriksson, It did happen soon, video still, 2012.

An interview with Annika Eriksson
Adnan Yildiz: “The Trilogy” is based on recent video works
you produced during the last three years. How would you
describe your motivation for creating a trilogy?
Annika Eriksson: After making the first two works, I learned
that they functioned well together and I was intrigued by the idea
of forming a Trilogy. The idea is appealing, the first time I encountered
it was with the Star Wars Trilogy and from the Swedish play
writer Lars Noren’s trilogy, “Night is the mother of day” these
works had a strong impression on me.
AY: And what brings them together in a set? What are the
connections between the pieces?
AE: In the different parts the preparation process functioned
in slightly different ways. With the punks it developed over the
years. I encountered the Berlin punks for the first time when I
visited Berlin in the 80s, they were a significant part of (West)
Berlin. I had never seen so many punks anywhere else before
and I thought that they functioned like a metaphor for the city.
Since I moved to Berlin they are disappearing every year, in the
“New Berlin” they are obviously displaced. But they are still as
significant as they disappear. In the film they appear like ghosts
from the 80s or perhaps an idea of a future situation.
With the piece in my former home it started already when I
moved in, this building was built in 1755 and it hosted layers and
layers of memories, if a building can ever have a soul this one has
it. I wanted to do a work about it somehow but it took some years
to come to that point, it was first when it became clear that we
would all have to move out because of new owners. In the film
the people seem like they are forever stuck in the building, their
presence will always remain. This piece turned out to be a work
about resistance and time, also a farewell to this building and my
former neighbours, the last tenants.
AE: I have lived in Berlin for ten years and it is a town that is
so full of information, I am never bored there. In recent years I
have focused on producing my works where I live, to make works
where I spend most of my time instead of making them elsewhere.
It involves less stress and more concentration for me and
it suits me very well.
AY: During 2010, we collaborated for the multi-venue exhibition
project, “correct me if I’m critical” in Berlin and
you came up with a performance piece, “Annika Eriksson´s
Hannah Arendt Band”. It featured young boys with an interest
in aggressive music; the participation of their peers really
challenged the art audience at Basso, especially those
who expected a feminist band. I am always interested in
the way you play with expectations and create conceptual
entities from real situations. How do artistic ideas come to
you? How do they find their forms?
AE: My works emerges from something I encounter and react
on - often in my surroundings - and then I take it from there,
sometimes a lot of research is involved sometimes not. I try to
embrace ideas with secrets that will only be clear to me if I execute
the work. But this work belongs to what I call my “displacements
works”. They play with expectations in the art world that is
my starting point. The idea for the “Hannah Arendt Band” came
out of a conversation we had, you mentioned her as a reference
for the show and somehow I reacted on the sound of her name…
Hannah Arendt, Hannah Arendt, Nina Hagen, Nina Hagen Band,
Hannah Arendt Band. What would the audience expect from a
female, feministic, middle aged artist and what could it be? It
turned out to be a surprise I think.
he last work came out of the first parts of the Trilogy. I wanted
to bring the time aspect further, to blur the distinction of time,
and also look upon the idea of resistance and political activities
in a wider sense. I spent a lot of time looking into the late 60s in
Berlin, especially with the politically oriented communities that
were formed, like Kommune 1 and others. I met with one of the
leading figures, Rainer Langhans and others that were more or
less loosely connected to the movement. There is a lot written
and documented from this period and for awhile I drowned in
research, but it was necessary to learn and try to understand
this exceptional post-war situation in Germany and this generation
of young people coming out of this extremely complicated
situation. This research forms the core of the work but I also took
it further. In the script I inserted quotes from people involved in
this time and movement with quotes from science fiction novels,
from Doris Lessing for example. Looking at the film we are
perhaps back to the 60s, or perhaps the young man in the film
is looking back at something that has not yet happened. I would
say that the people appearing in the films all come out like some
kind of ghosts trapped in time pockets.
A text that was for me especially inspiring during the last part
was a text by Peio Aquirre, Science Fiction and Historicism where
a quote to William Gibson appears: “Hallucinations of Unrealised
Futures”; there is something promising in this.
Annika Eriksson, Wir sind wieder da, 2010.
In all parts the notion of resistance in a wider sense is evident.
The punks are totally passive aggressive, refusing to be a part
of a society that they despise; the ones appearing in my film
claimed that this passivity was a political act. In the second part
my former neighbours decided to remain in the building and
claim their rights to do so. They somehow knew that it is nowadays
seen as rather pathetic to hang out a banner claiming that
you are staying (“Wir bleiben”). As one of them said:
“-but even so who and what are we if we don’t even try to resist?”.
In the new part you encounter a person that has an experience
of political activities, but it’s unclear if it is in a past or in a future.
AY: Why do you think Berlin appears as the production site
in all of these video works?
“The Trilogy” is kindly supported by IASPIS and the Honorary
Consulate of Sweden, Stuttgart.
For the production of “It did happen soon” (2012),
the artist would like to thank:
Camera and edit: Philip Fleischer
Actors: Jan Hallman and Nikolas Deutsch
Production manager: Egemen Demirci
Special thanks to:
Frank Berberich, Maria Cruz, Olle Eriksson, Fatima Hellberg,
Michael Krome, Selina Lai, Rainer Langhans, Lettre International,
Elisabeth Pallentin, Rotes Antiquariat Berlin, Guido Schirmeyer,
Skulpturenpark Berlin, and Paul Stöcker.
www.künstlerhaus.de
Reuchlinstr. 4b
70178 Stuttgart
Schedule:
Tuesday, May 15, 2012, 6-9pm
LINIE WEST No. 7
Tour through the gallerie Hauff, Friese, and Parrotta as well as Künstlerhaus Stuttgart
www.liniewest.de
6pm: Curatorial Exhibition Tour at Künstlerhaus with Adnan Yildiz
Exhibition hours:
Wed – Fr 3 – 7pm
Sat/Sun 1 – 5pm
Tuesday, June 12, 2012, 7pm
A conversation between Annika Eriksson and Maria Lind, moderated by Adnan Yildiz