Sketch production plan

Hymnus: Die Gedanken sind frei

(Thoughts are free) 2019

sketch / collage of audiovisual Installation in progress

Hymnus: Thoughts are free

An artistic transformation of the German folk song “Thoughts are free”

Audiovisual installation consisting of a wire sculpture equipped with video and audio technology and surrounded by a 360 degree video projection.

The larger than life wire figure represents a ballet dancer.
Her face forms a screen with the video portrait (b/w) of an elderly woman.
From her ears (speakers) sound the old German folk song "Thoughts are free", sung by myself.
The figure turns in a circle on glass pointe-shoes. On the surrounding walls, video fragments are projected whose images are reminiscent of the thoughts of a daydreamer.

The song “Thoughts are free” is a hymn of resistance.
The text dates from the year 1780, the poet is unknown. The melody dates from around 1810, and the composer is also unknown.
Again and again, in times of political oppression or endangerment, the song was an expression of the yearning for freedom and independence.

In my new installation, I translate the socio-political references of the folksong to my mother's biographical narratives, who was born in East Germany in 1937 and fled to the West in 1951 (two years after the founding of the GDR) with her aunt.

"Thoughts are free" was my mother's favorite song, I often heard my mother sing the song - a "catchy tune" that accompanied my childhood.
The story took its course - 10 years ago, my mother died of severe dementia. Three years earlier, she completely lost her voice motor skills.
The video projections rotating with and around the figure visualize the thoughts and memories of the last few years of a person suffering from Alzheimer's. The video fragments are from a documentary search for traces of memory and normalcy in the deceased's home.

In the installation, I connect the personal narrative with the multilayered theme of freedom, its social relevance and humanitarian relevance.
In addition, with this installation I want to discuss the autonomy of the artwork.

fim still from the original Super8-film recording "Portrait of Mum" (1996)

click on the image to view the simulation of the rotating sculpture and listen to the song "thoughts are free" (1 min. 10 sec.)