Hi everyone! :)
I am student of audiovisual media arts and I am into different kinds of stuff ;P Mainly I'm into writing scripts for surreal and dark short films which I then produce. I want to describe the feeling of being torn apart in a grotesque way by the inherent problems of being human. Attempts to solve these problems are paradoxical, as they can never succeed and the desire or action can never be fulfilled. I like to reveal this paradox by using abstract and grotesque elements to speak to the generalised, shared experience of being human in many situations. My main message is: we are weird, selfish and a victim of the circumstances we are born in. But this is not a reason to feel unconscious or helpless because of that. On the contrary: seeing people fail, turn into arseholes or lose their integrity because feel trapped by the inescapability of life without free will, ought to be reason for the viewers to live as if they are free.
So I like to give negative examples to suggest a moral attitude. These is one of the reasons I call myself "Abstrox"..... Because i am Interested in a "abstract" way of looking at things and I like to look at "paradoxal" drives or situations. Unfortunatly my films are usually in German, but I will share something with you when I have got a film with subtitles! :)
But I've been into photography even longer. Here my axiom is to be as least boring as possible... So it has to be fascinating! Basically, I never intended to get into abstract photography, I am just trying to see the world with a curious gaze, but I very often end up finding other-wordly aspects that seem abstract to many people. I want to explore different ways of seeing an object, always pushing to the extremes.
By analysing myself, I noticed that I was trying to work out 4 different ways to achieve my axiom through the medium of photography. One method is to immerse yourself into the observed object as much as possible, so that the perspective lets the viewer forget the idea of the original thing. Here, proximity to the object is helpful, because we are not used to literally "looking closer" [and sometimes we can't even look as closely as some lenses].
But sometimes a hint of reality also makes the picture more interesting. Especially if the picture is so far removed from reality that this hint makes the viewer start to wonder and want to connect the picture to the real world.
For example, people can recognize that this is about wood.
My second method does not focus on detailshots or closeups of the reality. it's basically about unusual perspectives and motives, but also needs to evoke wondering about the origin of the picture:
My art is also about offering abstract reflections on "the way we see". To be able to thematize this through photography, I started taking pictures which focus on something through a reflection.
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I also like to think and write about the pictures, because I believe my thought process while taking the pictures is very important in their creation (and i want to be wizard that is revealing his magic, to reveal the process so that the viewer can see me searching for the picture and gets an insight into the artistic process). In the end, I want to be understood and describing the process of the pictures can be helpful for this. I hope through my words and pictures, I can try to make a bigger picture of the craziness of the world and the craziness within us.
I want the viewer to start to wonder about the possibility and emergence of the photo. I think the process of wondering is valuable in art. This is more of a rarity in photography than other media, because it often displays a world which we know and are used to, so we take less time to look at details or to try out inconvenient angles.
My third method is using time and movement of the camera in certain rhythms to overcome certain constraints. Firstly: the digital photo frame, because with a longtime exposure you can illustrate different aspects of the world. Impressions can be combined with each other or warped in a specific direction. Secondly I want to overcome the frozen and stagnant characteristics of most photographs. Through the movement while shooting, I want the picture to become dynamic, like flowing water or music.
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My fourth method is a typical surrealist technique: the collage.
I therefore use Photoshop to reunite the almost abstract other-wordly aspect with the recognizable aspects from the world around us. This is also an idea I am interested in and fits with the name Abstrox: the paradox of the phrase "immaterial photography" which makes no sense, as there is always a material base for the photo.
This technique is influenced by my dreams and my visions that come into my mind when I look at my own photos.
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And of course it is also interesting for me to go back to a more conventional way of taking pictures. Through this, I can show the viewer the key points of my inspiration from the real world.
And finally, I also paint, usually stuff related to the idea of abstract expressionism. I want to discover what acrylic paint is capable of and what kind of structures can appear. I have no intention to draw anything that is in my mind - if I want to do this, I use a biro or a pencil. But I am most interested in discovering the endless possibilities of acrylic colour.
