Helen Mirra
Field Recordings, 7 x 5000 Schritte, in Berlin (Allee der Kosmonauten) 4 August
Detail / detail
Öl auf Leinwand / Oil on linen, 2010
80 x 170 cm
Courtesy the artist
The exhibition “gehend: Field Recordings 1-3” is taking place currently at the KW Institute for Contemporary Art, which is just around the corner from The Circus on Auguststraße. The concept behind the artist Helen Mirra’s work is interesting, because she creates not in a studio, but during walks which she describes as “paced printmaking”.
The pieces currently on show are prints and rubbings made during hikes in Berlin, Bonn and Zurich, and here’s some more about the exhibition from the website:
“In the realm of artistic positions that deal with principles of nature and classification, Helen Mirra’s works hold a particular position. Rather than idealizing nature, they hover between processes of scientific experimentation on the one hand and calligraphic meditation on the other—a combination that produces a great sense of both melancholy and measure.”
For this exhibition she spent a month in each of the three locations, and spent almost every day walking. Every hour she would make a print of the ground before transferring this onto linen, collecting seven such prints a day. Melancholy and measure… perfect for a rainy Berlin day such as this one. The exhibition runs until the 29th January.
