HANDS-ON PICTURES
FOUR FILMS ON THE TESTIMONIAL CAPACITY OF PHOTOGRAPHIC MATERIAL
A project in cooperation with the SOPHIENSCHULE HANNOVER sponsored by VGH Stiftung
Do photographic images – apart from their existence as fluid data sets on monitors – also have a physicality, a pictorial body? How does the analogue photographic image make its way into the photo book? What decisions do artists make from the moment of taking the picture to the presentation of their work? How should we treat photographic images in order to preserve them for as long as possible?
These and many other questions were addressed by 17 art seminar students of the Sophienschule Hannover secondary school under the supervision of their teacher Dr. Stefanie Loh in cooperation with the Sprengel Museum Hannover in the spring semester of 2020/21.
During the period of homeschooling, the events originally planned in the museum's depots, study rooms and restoration workshop had to take place at short notice at the computer screen in the students' homes. They searched in their records at home for their favourite pictures or for the oldest and most recent photographs. In digital meetings, the students presented their finds in short films and discussed their specific experiences of the material and their possible significances. In "mystery bags", the museum supplied samples of materials to facilitate the physical experience of the differences between memory chips, film material and photographic paper, for example. Last but not least, the students tested their skills at digital storytelling.
Finally, thanks to the end of the lockdown, four short films were produced in the museum after six months of preparation. On the basis of their own ideas, the students performed in front of the cameras of Helena Lea Manhartsberger and Laila Sieber with the assistance of the photographic restorer Kristina Blaschke-Walther, the photographic curator Inka Schube and the artist Heidi Specker. They studied works by Seiichi Furuya, Heinrich Riebesehl, Sascha Weidner and Heidi Specker and experienced the challenges of film production along the way.
CREDITS
Preparatory research as part of the 2020/21 art seminar at the Sophienschule Hannover secondary school under the supervision of Stefanie Loh: Mia Judith Bohnsack, Lonny Brandenburg, Lore Kildal Capatina, Rebecca Engel, Lea Erdal, Beatrice Heinz, Sophie Hübner, Alexia Körükmez, Victoria Anthea Löffler, Cajo Nitsch, Frida Prominski, Carlos Rödiger, Maximilian Laurenz Schneider, Marlene Schmidt, Valeria Sherman, Jurij Uminskij and Sajitha Zeise.
#01 SEIICHI FURUYA
PICTURES OF MEMORY
Film ideas and participants: Rebecca Engel, Lore Kildal Capatina, Frida Prominski, Marlene Schmidt. Poem: Marlene Schmidt. Text: Lore Kildal Capatina. Guest: Kristina Blaschke-Walther, restorer for photography at the Sprengel Museum Hannover
Special reference to Seiichi Furuya, MÉMOIRES, 2012, slide installation, 4 slide shows each of 80 images, Sammlung Niedersächsische Sparkassenstiftung im Sprengel Museum Hannover
© works and documentation on installation at the Hamburger Kunsthalle: Seiichi Furuya, Graz; Installation simulation at the Sprengel Museum Hannover.
We thank Seiichi Furuya for his kind support.
#02 HEINRICH RIEBESEHL
FROM THE NEGATIVE TO THE BOOK
Film ideas, participants and photo re-enactments: Victoria Anthea Löffler, Valeria Sherman, Maximilian Laurenz Schneider, Jurij Uminski. Guest: Inka Schube, curator at the Sprengel Museum Hannover.
Special reference to Heinrich Riebesehl, MENSCHEN IM FAHRSTUHL, 20.11.1969, gelatin silver prints, various formats, here approx. 16 x 23.7 cm, Heinrich Riebesehl archive / on permanent loan from the Land of Lower Saxony in the Sprengel Museum.
Publication: Heinrich Riebesehl, Fotografische Serien. Texts: Ulrike Schneider, Rolf Sachsse, Thomas Weski, Ulf Erdmann-Ziegler et al. Design: Atelier Sternstein / Stuttgart, Verlag Hatje Cantz, Ostfildern-Ruit 2004. Publication: HEINRICH RIEBESEHL, MENSCHEN IM FAHRSTUHL. Text: Inka Schube. Design: Fabian Bremer, Pascal Storz, Spector Books, Leipzig 2018.
© for the works: VG Bild-Kunst Bonn 2001.
We thank Gisela Riebesehl for her kind support.
#03 SASCHA WEIDNER
SURFACES LIKE MIRRORS
Film ideas and participants: Lonny Brandenburg, Beatrice Heinz and Sophie Hübner. Guest: Kristina Blaschke-Walther, restorer for photography at the Sprengel Museum Hannover.
Special reference to Sascha Weidner, RENAISSANCE II, 110 cm x 110 cm, inkjet print, laminated on reverse, 2012. Sascha Weidner, FRAGILE II, 2009, 22 x 33 cm, chromogenic colour print, laminated on both sides. Sascha Weidner, FRAGILE II, 2009, 29.5 x 44 cm on 42.5 x 57 cm, inkjet print. All works: Sprengel Museum Hannover, donated by Ole A. H. Truderung. Publication: SASCHA WEIDNER, INTERMISSION II. Text: Inka Schube. Design: Ole Truderung based on the original layout design by Sascha Weidner, Verlag Hatje Cantz, Berlin 2016.
© for the works: The Estate of Artist Sascha Weidner.
Music: August Wilhelmsson, Appeased Soundscape 11.
We thank Ole A. H . Truderung for his kind support.
#04 HEIDI SPECKER
WHAT MAKES A PHOTO A PICTURE?
Film ideas and participants: Mia Judith Bohnsack, Lea Erdal, Alexia Körükmez, Carlos Rödiger, Sajitha Zeise. Guest: Heidi Specker.
Special reference to Heidi Specker, TERMINI, 15-part series, 40 x 26.5 cm / 40 x 30 cm / 197 x 148.5 cm / 202.5 x 152.8 x 6 cm, inkjet prints, Sammlung Niedersächsische Sparkassenstiftung im Sprengel Museum Hannover. Heidi Specker – DAMME, 2020, 6-part, inkjet prints, each 26.7 x 18 cm, edition of 20 + 5 APs. Publication: Heidi Specker, DAMME. Text: Heidi Specker. Design: Stephan Müller, Verlag Walther König, Cologne 2020.
© for the works: VG Bild-Kunst Bonn 2001.
We thank Heidi Specker for her kind support.
IDEA AND DIRECTORSHIP: Inka Schube
COORDINATION AND REALISATION: Kristina Blaschke-Walther, restorer for photography at the Sprengel Museum Hannover. Dr. Stefanie Loh, art historian, teacher at Sophienschule Hannover. Helena Lea Manhartsberger, photo and multimedia journalist. Inka Schube, curator for photography and media art at the Sprengel Museum Hannover
CAMERA / SOUND: Helena Lea Manhartsberger, Laila Sieber
EDITING: Helena Lea Manhartsberger
TRANSLATION OF SUBTITLES: Tim Chafer, Düsseldorf
We thank Peter Kindermann, headmaster of the Sophienschule secondary school in Hannover, the colleagues involved at the Sprengel Museum Hannover and the VGH Stiftung, and especially Ulrike Schneider, for their kind support.
Our special thanks go to Dr Stefanie Loh and all the students involved for their willingness to engage in this shared experience.