200108: Fotogalerie Wien: Provocation? III Culprit Katharina Daschner

Fotogalerie Wien: Provocation? III – Culprit Katharina Daschner Unhappy king’s children People say that those who have been imprisoned for child abuse are at the bottom of the ladder. When discussing this taboo topic, politicians, especially right-winged politicians, quickly have instant solutions at hand. It is therefore no surprise that the newspaper “Die Welt” accused Thomas Jonigk to have “charged an open door” when his play “Culprits” was first performed at the Hamburg Schauspielhaus in 1999. On the basis of this drama Katharina Daschner has now developed a photo installation at the Fotogalerie Wien. For a long time Daschner enjoyed playing with disguises and skewed productions, now she concentrates on formal reductions: a crochet dress whose skirt is covered with textile and dysfunctional dildos reminds strongly of her former work. In a forest in which tree trunks seem to grow beyond the ceiling, Eva Jantschitsch as well as Sabine Marte, members of Daschner’s sensational band “SV Damenkraft” (Ladies Power) sing a sad song about the king’s children who are dying. This is meant as a reference to the two children in Jonigk’s play who are both trying to deal with the abuse they had been forced to experience. Sentences, which confuse the perpetrator-victim dichotomy, appear on photo paper, and objects – such as knives, aerosol cans and rolling pins – in this context all turn into obvious phallus symbols. A short glimpse at the mattresses, innocently decorated with stars and flowers, and one of them with pale bloodstains, suggest a voyeuristic view of something very private; an explanation, however, is denied. The objects reveal nothing but their material presence. The design of the crochet dress, which one can only eye through a narrow slit, can be interpreted in two ways: the drooping phalli convey a feeling of helplessness, while their vast quantity underlines their omnipresence. Daschner’s work is fascinating on account of these kinds of ambivalences. Even if she has delivered more complex and dense installations in the past. Fotogalerie Wien 1090 Vienna, Währingerstrasse 59, until 30.01.2008

Mehr Texte von translated and summarized by: Liz Wollner-Grandville

200108

Fotogalerie Wien
1090 Wien, Währingerstrasse 59
Tel: +43 1 40 85 462, Fax: +43 1 40 30 478
Email: fotogalerie-wien@wuk.at
http://www.fotogalerie-wien.at
Öffnungszeiten: Di-Fr 14-19, Sa 10-14 Uhr

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