FACTORY-BERLIN

Rachel Lumsden

My painting for the project „Kunst des Gedächtnisses“ is based upon a patchwork of aerial-view images of the ruined tower found on “Google earth”. I frequently use internet as a research tool for my work, and the initial impulse to research the ruin via the web, came simply in response to a lack of immediate visual information. However, these Google images are a rather fascinating visual material in their own right offering a grainy, birds-eye view of the ruin; with a dense proliferation of camera icons pasted over the surface. Whereas each icon offers the possibility of a new vista on a monument of enormous historical and psychological significance, the actual aerial-view of the tower itself, the bare bones of the monument, so the speak, is almost fully obscured as a result.

This somewhat irritating concealment of the tower gave me a lead into the Gedächtnisskirche as a subject, both visually and on a conceptual level, in terms of what one can grasp and yet not grasp, of what is revealed and what is obscured. In spite of the repeated representation and re-representation of the ruin by clicking on each camera icon, not one image comes close to grasping the true texture of Second World War devastation or its deep cultural ramifications. Perhaps there is a parallel here: Schooled though we are in our recent history; familiar though we are with media images of war and destruction, those of us without first-hand experience have not the first idea of what it really means to be on the receiving end of a bombing raid.

The idea of “long-distance” painting by internet-proxy, is one which fits well with my current working practice, as much of my work involves the removal, distancing and re-interpretation of existing imagery, and of a patch-working together of various “borrowed” influences. I generally work in series, which affords me the opportunity to explore different approaches to painting as well as an exploration of different subject matter.

Of primary concern in my work, is the fine boundary between ideas or intentions for a piece of work, and the parameters dictated by the material “paint” when let loose out of the tube. It involves seeking equilibrium between control of the work and the developments determined by the materials, as well as my own painterly limitations. This is the rich seam that has kept me hooked on painting as my main medium for visual expression over the last twenty years.

The work for„Kunst des Gedächtnisses” has an intuitive approach involving a tussle between subject matter, with all its imbued historical significance, and the materials of my trade.

Information about the artist

Brtish artist, Rachel Lumsden (M.A. Painting, Royal Academy, London, 1998) lives and works in St Gallen, Switzerland and London. She has been selected as the residency artist for the Swiss Atelier in La Fabrik, Berlin and will spend autumn 2008 researching a video and painting project in the German capital. She is visiting lecturer for painting at the University of Luzern.