THE THIRD CHAMBER - THE INVISIBLE TORCH

(Solo-Show at Thomas Rehbein Gallery, Cologne 2001)


In these works called "The Third Chamber - The Invisible Torch" we develop digital scenarios which, being models of "rejected worlds of desire," tell something about the failing of utopias. The representation of these digital world models with the help of the computer attains a precision that wouldn't have been possible by only using one's imagination which indeed would have led to quite different results. However this precision is inconsistent with the represented ruinous states of these worlds. Their digital construction changes the targets of representation and increases the credibility of the inventions. Although one knows that these worlds are artificially constructed the credibility of their appearance results in a stronger impact of the images. The belief in the impact of images is based on the idea that an image is a model – i.e. not a representation but the construction of the thing represented. A model is a condition for the planning of things. It is necessary for the realization of this anticipated future or - as in this case - to supply evidence of its unrealizability. In any case it is a step on the way to a different consciousness of reality. The image in its model-state therefore fulfills a certain purpose in an undefined future and at the same time is an end in itself leading an autonomous existence. Thus the emerging images themselves turn gradually into a developing-model without ever reaching reality outside themselves.