Lucia Kempkes
Visual Arts
Berlin, Germany
Artist in Residence at Rote Fabrik from 01.04.2021 to 28.06.2021
"To Protect Us From What We Seek"
The purpose of extreme sports equipment is to push our bodies to the places in which they could not normally go. Mountaineering gear protects us from the cold, from using up oxygen and from losing grip on steep climbs. Action sports tools are designed to simultaneously take us to the precipice of death while keeping us safe. Adrenaline is the goal, but also to remain unharmed. For that reason, high-tech textiles and machines protect us from what we seek: The great outdoors – the challenge.
At Rote Fabrik, I wish to dive deeper into the scientific research that underpins the manufacturing process of outdoor equipment such as paragliders. I am also looking forward to meeting anybody who can tell me about their experience with action sports, mountaineering, and their desire to experience the extreme – I hope to gather as many perspectives regarding seeking adventure in the outdoors.
The project, as well as my work so far, is based on our emotional projections onto landscape and expectations of places. I’ve always been curious about the intentions behind Art history’s iconic landscapes. The mountainous vista is one of the most depicted symbols in classical painting, a celebration of the natural world, but often just a backdrop which we project ourselves into, to depict us in a certain position. This was the entry point for my research into today’s cultural, political and emotional associations of landscape (especially mountains) in contemporary visual culture.
At Rote Fabrik, I would like to develop a body of large-scale drawings which reconcile our movements through physical and digital landscapes. In doing so, I wish to unpack the correlation between digital mapping and real-life usability to understand the various ways in which the ‘digital’ can offer up many versions of an imagined anthropogenic landscape.
Mentoring by Dr. Gabrielle Schaad
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