Full documentation project

Here is my studio work since August 2017, the work of my second MFA year:

Was ich haette sagen sollen (What I should have said)

Tar, acrylic, oil, pastel, soil and charcoal on canvas

 8’x11.5’, 96 x 138 inches, 244 x 351 cm,

2018

She must find a way to preserve a sense of trust in people who are untrustworthy, safety in a situation that is unsafe, control in a situation that is terrifyingly unpredictable, power in a situation of helplessness

Tar, acrylic, oil, pastel and charcoal on canvas

 8’x11.5’, 96 x 138 inches, 244 x 351 cm,

2018

The painting’s title is ‘Remembering and telling the truth about terrible events are prerequisites both for the restoration of the social order and for the healing of individual victims’.

The text in stencils says: ‘To speak is to invite the stigma that attaches to victims’.

Tar, acrylic, oil, pastel and charcoal on canvas, 

54 by 108 inches, 137 cm x 274 cm, 

2017

Wo Moral auftaucht, haben die Menschen die Zustaendigkeit ueber den Zusammenhang ihrer Handlungen verloren’

Tar, acrylic, oil, pastel and charcoal on canvas

 8’x11.5’, 96 x 138 inches, 244 x 351 cm,

2017

Allgegenwart der Macht(Omnipresence of power)

Tar, acrylic, oil, charcoal and pastel on canvas

54 x 108 inches, 137 x 274 cm

2017

The ordinary response to atrocities is to banish them from consciousness. Certain violations of the social compact are too terrible to utter aloud: this is the meaning of the word unspeakable

Tar, acrylic, oil, pastel and charcoal on canvas 

54 by 108 inches, 137 x 274 cm

2017

We need to understand the past in order to reclaim the present and the future. An understanding of psychological trauma begins with rediscovering history

8’x11.5’, 96 x 138 inches, 244 x 351 cm 

Tar, acrylic, oil, pastel, soil and charcoal on canvas

2017

The conflict between the will to deny horrible events and the will to proclaim them aloud is the central dialectic of psychological trauma

Tar, acrylic, oil, pastel, soil and charcoal on canvas

8’x11.5’, 96 x 138 inches, 244 x 351 cm

2018

Die Machtbeziehungen sind gleichzeitig intentional und nicht subjektiv, 

Tar, acrylic, oil, charcoal and pastel on canvas

54 x 108 inches, 137 x 274 cm 

2017

Die Frage lautet nicht wie Macht sich manifestiert, sondern wie sie ausgeübt wird

Tar, acrylic, oil, charcoal and pastel on canvas

54 x 108 inches, 137 x 274 cm 

2017

Sometimes the child is silenced by violence or by a direct threat of murder

Tar, acrylic, oil, pastel and charcoal on canvas 

8’x11.5’, 96 x 138 inches, 244 x 351 cm

2018

Then I created three videos:

1. History as Personal Memory 

The Vimeo link to my video in German: https://vimeo.com/241878832

And with English voice-over: https://vimeo.com/257923730

Length: 8:51 min

2. What is Memory

A video to accompany my whole body of work, which is to be played side by side to History as Personal Memory https://vimeo.com/266882501, Length: 8:51 min

3. A la recherche de Michel Foucault is a 7:56 min short film: https://vimeo.com/233722820

by Ira Hoffecker in collaboration with Regine Forster, Farid Abdulbaki and Lara Hoffecker

Please find a detailed information about my work in the project report M506

Let me know if you have any questions 

Advisor meeting with Andrew Cooks on May3rd, 2018

Andrew and I discussed my paintings and the new video in our meeting. My intention had been to take some of my canvases to Berlin and to stretch them there. We talked about the difference of stretched versus unstretched canvases. Andrew suggested that I put my canvases directly onto the wall without stretching them. Even though I really liked the transformation that happened recently at the exhibition when my canvas was stretched, I will be much more flexible when we install the work in Berlin. This is a great relief, stretching this 8’ x 11.5’ size of canvases in Berlin would have been very costly (plus lots of hard work). Also, this will allow me to play with the installation of the work for some days. Andrew suggested I look at Magdalena Abakanowicz’ work. I realize I had seen the work, at least the standing figures in the Comtemporary Museum of Krakau. I see what you mean with the Abakanas and the way they are hung. 

My intention is to bring about 4 to 6 canvases to Berlin. However, I do not want to overwhelm the work of the other artists in the group, so if I can only hang one or two paintings that will work as well. I will make a suggestion for my selection once I have finished one of the paintings that I am currently reworking, revisiting. 

We talked about the videos and the possible ways of installation in Berlin. Since the paintings will be nailed to the wall, monitors that are somewhere in the room will losen up the installation. The best way to show the two videos would be on two monitors that stand side by side.

The second new video has been created to accompany not only the first video but also the paintings, the whole body of work and we agreed that they both should be shown in an infinite loop. An avalanche of images representing parts of German memory and some of my own childhood images. 

I have started my dialogue with Malvina, our common theme is memory.