Traumfänger

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mixed media

each 4,5x9cm

started in 2015, still ongoing

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Superstitions often employ a language of both beauty and brutality, and this installation scrutinizes this intricate interplay between aesthetics and violence, all while using a framework akin to a cognitive dream catcher.

 

At its core, „Traumfänger“ introduces a compelling cognitive dissonance, manifesting through a carefully curated series of mouse traps. These seemingly rudimentary devices, whose primary function is to impose physical harm, become something altogether different when adorned with an array of intricate protective symbols and sigils.  These symbols transcend mere ornamentation; they are carefully selected to invoke the complex realm of dreams and the multifaceted dimensions of the human psyche.

 

These mouse traps, initially emblematic of unforgiving brutality, undergo a transformation as they become the focal point of aesthetic analysis. The juxtaposition of their stark, utilitarian design with the intricate, evocative symbols imbues them with an allure that transcends their mundane usage. Viewers are irresistibly drawn closer to the installation, magnetically pulled toward a cognitive encounter with the juxtaposition of attraction and repulsion.

„Der Traumfänger“ assumes the role of a contemporary dream catcher, albeit one that inverts the traditional narrative. Through a violent act it protects us by filtering and purifying the mind‘s darker facets and nighmares, it ensnares them in an artistic tableau. As observers approach, they are drawn to observe the drawings from up-close, ensnared in the cognitive tension between the aesthetically captivating and the emotionally disquieting, attraction and aversion.