Verena Friedrich

 c7a7424 jessica schaefer

The beginning stage involves detailed research - until an idea is found. Verena Friedrich's complex installations arise from an »interplay of thematic-conceptual and material experimentation.« It takes several months for an aesthetically and technically acceptable work to develop from prototypes. In the installation The Long Now, a soap bubble is stabilised by an experimental set up and kept alive for a longer period. The work, created in 2015, has already been shown in Montréal (Canada), Frankfurt, Halle, Stuttgart, Osnabrück (last four Germany), Aix-en-Provence (France) and Moscow (Russia). In 2016 exhibitions were held in Kassel (Germany), Gent (Belgium) and at the Cologne Max Planck Institute for the Biology of Aging (Germany). Verena Friedrich was also awarded a scholarship from the Stiftung Kunstfonds in 2016.

The desire and efforts to prolong life, through science and technology, is also the subject of the installation Vanitas Machine, from the years 2013/14. There is a candle in the centre, with a burning time that is extended by a technical arrangement. Friedrich works with classical symbols that point to our transience. Vanitas Machine will soon be shown at the Laznia Centre for Contemporary Art in Gdansk (Poland) as well as at the ifva Festival in Hong Kong in 2017 (together with The Long Now). Verena Friedrich developed her projects in her Cologne studio and research stays. A new work is to be created in Québec (Canada) in the spring of 2017.

Verena Friedrich presented her first major, technically complex installation, Transducers, as a Diplom project at the HfG Offenbach in 2008. Transducers, an experimental arrangement involving human hair, takes in questions relating to biotechnology. She completed her artistic studies mainly in the area of Experimental Spatial Concepts.

This seminar »aided a thematic approach and the development of an idea over a longer period of time,« says Friedrich. At the beginning of her HfG studies in 2001, Friedrich was interested in graphic design. The open structure of the university, in which students from different disciplines can meet, contributed to her decision for art. »In the course of my studies, I also came into contact with programming, technology and electronics,« she recalls. It was also important for her to be able to use the workshops of both disciplines on her own.

 c7a7604 jessica schaefer

Works

  • Verenafriedrich endo fotoangelikahaus

    ENDO

  • Verenafriedrich endo 2

    ENDO

  • Verenafriedrich cellularperformance videostill

    Cellular Performance

    Videostill

  • Verenafriedrich cellularperformance installationviewcynetart festival2012 dresden fotodavid pinzer

    Cellular Performance

    Photo: David Pinzer

  • Verenafriedrich the long now fotovictors brigola

    ENDO

    Foto: Victor S. Brigola

  • Verenafriedrich thelongnow fotoannegrethoehne

    The Long Now

    Foto: Annegret Höhne

  • Verenafriedrich thelongnow fotovictors brigola 1

    The Long Now

    Foto: Victor S. Brigola

  • Verenafriedrich transducers 1 maxschroeder

    TRANSDUCERS

    Photo: Max Schroeder

  • Verenafriedrich transducers 2

    TRANSDUCERS

  • Verenafriedrich transducers 3 leap berlin

    TRANSDUCERS

  • Verenafriedrich vanitasmachine

    Vanitas Machine

  • Verenafriedrich vanitasmachine fotomihafras

    Vanitas Machine

    Foto: Miha Fras

ENDO

Bildschirmfoto 2017 02 16 um 09 01 17

THE LONG NOW

Bildschirmfoto 2017 03 14 um 20 04 00

VANITAS MACHINE

Bildschirmfoto 2017 03 14 um 20 07 11

TRANSDUCES

Bildschirmfoto 2017 03 14 um 20 08 17

CELLULAR PERFORMANCE

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