Category: Work

lisa.premke@gmail.com

+49 3021983307

https://www.instagram.com/lisa.premke/

2019 

In August I’ll be taking part in a group show in the Bärenzwinger Berlin, a place I also visited when the bears of Berlin were still ‘living’ there. Exhibition opens on the 8.8.2019 ! More news to coming very soon.

In September I’m returning to India for a residency at the TIFA in Pune. Very honored and excited to have been awarded the cultural exchange stipend of the Berlin Senate to do some research for a few months in India. Updates coming soon!

I was nominated for the Neukölln Kunstpreis  (art prize) 2019. Really happy and grateful to show my piece ‘Of patterns narrating themselves’ again and to have won! Many thanks to the jury, Galerie Saalbau Neukölln and Kulturnetzwerk Neukölln.

2018

It’s December and  Kochi Muziris Biennale Pepperhouse Residents show is open!  It was an absolute pleasure to work with the whole Biennale team, the Goethe Bangalore and of course my many amazing helpers who brought this big water tower to live. Thanks yous!

Head to Willilngdon Island to see and listen to my work.

It turned from this:                              to this:

Juli – In residence at the Pepperhouse Kochi in India to prepare a work as part of the Kochi Biennale at Pepperhouse 2018. Thanks to the Goethe Institute for the invitation and support.

Adlershof Journal, Print and Online Publication, 2018

(english and german)
 

Exhibition @ Goldrausch 2017, Studio1 Kunstquartier Bethanien, Berlin

Here’s my new Catalogue ‘Zwischen Lauten’ ! 
Designed by the great Delia Keller (Gestaltung Berlin) and with a beautiful text by Maurin Dietrich.

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Languitecture Iterations

Languitecture is a project by Nadine Hattom, Joe Hornby, Marco Pando, Lisa Premke, Rawan Serhan and Eduardo Suarez; a year-long process to explore interconnections of the four mother-tongues Spanish, Arabic, English and German.

I.

Flat Mountain, High Mountain, 2017
Drawing on paper1: 48x77cm; Animation1: 00:10min
Drawing on paper2: 48x77cm; Animation2:  00:08min

Do original names of places correlate to their physical presence, e.g a mountain size/shape correlates to what it would sound like if it could speak? A place is being named, trying to attribute all the qualities phonetically and when the landscape changes or the word travels, it becomes much more of a word-object and looses the phonetic connection to the place.

II.

Whispers, 2017; 5 thread drawings on newspaper, various sizes; 1 animation with sound, 2:02min

The thread drawings visualize frequency changes of sound waves when they bounce off one or two surfaces and relate it to how a sentence changes meaning when playing the telephone game.

III.

Nesting, 2017; Threads on canvas, Motor, Sound

IV.

WWhHHATT WOOULD GGOOOD DOO?? (morse), 2017; Metal rods, Motor, drum skin (round), sound                                               drawing: Metal rods in paper (morse code)

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Asymmetrische Information

2015

During a residency in Chemnitz I investigated the leftovers of the textile industry; after the1990ies the former East German stronghold had an immense industry decline. I was struck by the remoteness of the city, even though it’s not small and well connected. But because it lost its economical heart after the reunification of Germany, there was still a big loss visible that extended far beyond the economic deficiency.

I started to research the remnants of the former stronghold of the textile industry, which are still very much present today and I worked together with former factory employees, the local museum and some small remaining textile companies, to listen to the stories, recalling of the audible memory and recording all the old machines. Each machine could make up to 100dB of noise and many of the workers were hard of hearing or deaf after decades of working on one machine. The change of the acoustic landscape for each person but also throughout town after the abrupt industry decline must have been immense. I was fascinated by the acoustics and incredible beauty of these old machines and decided to (re)create a machine that transforms the heavy hammering of the textile machines into a more subtle repetitive sound, trying to remember and at the same time reimagine the use of the machinery.

The metal plates on the ground are covered with 1000 magnets that keep the 1000 needles, which are hanging on sewing threads from the ceiling slightly above the plate, centered. Repetitively, three motors are pushing the long metal plate slightly up, the needles touch their magnet, create each a clicking sound, and spring back into air when the metal plate straightens out again.

Asymmetrische Information, Sound Sculpture, 300x100x280cm; metal plates/threats/magnets/ needles/motors

Asymmetrische Information, Series of thread collages/stitching; various sizes

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Living Architectural Details

Cosmic construction, 2015; Sound Sculpture
200cmx80cmx80cm; Greaseproof paper/ wood/ desk fans

Incidental monotony, 2015; Sound Sculpture
size variable; Ventilator/ fishing rods/ metal stick

Part of the solo-exhibition ‘cosmic construction’ at the weisser elefant, Berlin.

Die Enge des Charakters

2015, Acoustic Object
300x280x150cm; metal plates, motors, wood, Sound

Part of the solo-exhibition ‘cosmic construction’ at the weisser elefant, Berlin.

hide & amplify

2015, Installation/Performance
Size variable; speaker-backpacks/ wood /microphones/ amplifiers/ singing boys

Hide & Amplify is a permanent interactive installation and vocal performance with six speaker-backpacks and six young singers who are spread around the room, singing one by one against the wall. Like a Chinese whispers, each slightly changes the tune or intonation when its his turn. In the performance, the desire of being noticed publicly is mixed and compared with the aural behaviors of the private. The performers sing in microphones against the wall, hiding their faces from the audience, and each have a speaker-backpack on his back. However, they do not sing in their own speaker backpack, but each in a different one of a singer in the other end of the room. This way, every singer carries the acoustic load of another co-performer.

Part of the solo-exhibition ‘cosmic construction’ at the weisser elefant, Berlin.

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Thick skin

2014; Sound Installation
400cmx400cm; linden seed pods, music, sound plinth

Together with the incredible artist duo Gethan&Myles this collaboration piece was developed for the Kosice White night, 2014.

The social seclusion was rather dominant during the residency and apart from all somehow working with language, I think this work also reflects on the connections we desire to have and the disconnections we feel towards the other nonetheless. The 2173 linden seed pods, the dancing seed sound sculpture and the entry with Blind Lemon Jefferson’s song ‘I want to be like Jesus in my heart’ intend to remind of these disconnections. Both elements of the installation physically force a certain approach from the audience; around the linden circle the audience needs to behave calm and with considerable distance not to destroy the fragile positioning while the plinth asks to bow, step close and only gives a slight possibility to see and listen how the seeds dance/drum. The Linden seeds are the number of fatalities in the Palestine/Israel conflict during our residency period. These conflicts feel interchangeable from far away, so using a common european natural product also poses the question if we dare, want or should link ourselves to the other and take responsibility of what happens outside of our familiar environment.

Thick skin was developed during a three month residency in Slovakia at k.a.i.r. and wouldn’t have been possible without the generous support of the Goethe Institut in Bratislava.

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The aesthetics of heritage

2014

‘The aesthetics of heritage’ plays with the original use of the voice and a communication without human language; investigating the natural and sophisticated voice control and trying to teach one to mimic the other.

The Czechoslovakian wolfdog is a breed between German Shepard and wolf that, in an experiment of the army (ČSR), was bred to protect the border between east and west. The wolfdog has an incredible vocal range of up to three octaves when howling. In opposition of this wordless and primary use of the voice is the most cultivated and controlled form of voice: opera singing. The opera piece is divided in three acts, trying to form a choir of singers and dogs in a huge, strongly reverberating underground parking lot, simulating the echoes that carry wolfs howling over valleys and mountains. In the first act the four singers use operatic language to imitate the intonation and pitches of wolf howling. The second act, half of the performers sing a classical composition, while the other already try to howl. In the last act, all performers howl, hoping for the wolfs to join. The cages are made of old fences and window barriers from the area.

The aesthetics of heritage, Performance/ Installation, Kosice White Night, Kaserna Kulturpark, Size variable; metal cages/ Czechoslovakian wolfdogs /opera singers

This project wouldn’t have been possible without these incredible performers: Silvia Pasnisinova, Janette Zsigova, Alzbeta Smolinkova and Pavol Cebak. Also special thanks to Lukáš Bača and Viktor Veliky and their dogs.

‘The aesthetics of heritage’ was developed during a three month residency in Slovakia at k.a.i.r. and wouldn’t have been possible without the generous support of the Goethe Institut in Bratislava.

‘Lost cinemas’, 2010, Serie von 12/ 14cm x 14cm/ Papier Cut-Outs

In den 1930’er Jahren erlebte Großbritannien einen starken Anstieg an neuen Kinobauten, von denen viele mit der Zeit verloren gehen oder umfunktioniert worden. Die Fassaden dieser besonderen Konstruktionen sind hier schablonenartig festgehalten

Untitled

2008; Site-specific Installation ( Hoyerswerda Plattenbau)
500cmx600cmx400cm; Concrete slab walls

The temporary piece was made during a one month residency in Hoyerswerda (ep-residency), a former mining town in East Germany. Almost all of the especially for workers constructed Plattenbauten (building made from prefabricated slabs), as well as this one, were being demolished due to a drastic negative growth of the population. The concrete cut-outs are depicting the classic facade of the building. Similar to the beginning ideology of the Plattenbauten, the left-over mini-slabs could be used as building bricks, constructing small new  housing ideologies.

Echo Echo

2013, Site-specific Performance/ Installation
Size variable; opera singers, metal plates, motors

In a former underground water reservoir  I realized a performative installation with eight opera singers. Leaning on the story of Echo and Narcissus I composed a four act musical piece for the specific space- that has a incredible long time of reverberation. The tunnel-like round space is divided in 32 open chambers. In every 4th chamber one singer was placed and only them and their chambers were illuminated. The audience moved through the space, passing the singers closely.

In the first act I wanted to refer to Echos pre-Narcissus time, where the nymph was gossiping for the gods. The singers each sing continuously one note of the tonal ladder (CDEFGABC). While the viewer moves within the space, the tonal ladder is made audible through his/her movement, like being a play button.

In the second act Echo lost her ability to choose her own words. The first 2 singers sing the original tune while the following 3 couples repeat the tune but slightly change it’s intonation.

The third part places all the opera singers in front of 6 metal sheets, singing for several minutes as high as they can. It signifies the ending of the myth where Narcissus rejects Echos love and falls in love with his mirror image in a lake instead. Because of the large metal plates in the back, the high frequencies do cancel each other out, which results in an intriguing but painful new resonance body in the ears of the viewers. The sound waves tangle in the outer ear and it becomes physical.

In the last act, the singers are no longer present and the metal plates begin to make sound by themselves. Each of the six plates has a different tone, depending on the metal and pulling force. Small motors pull each plate back and quickly release them, creating a large dripping sounds; a repetitive echo.  

Shadow Rorschach

2013

Site-specific installation/performance
800cm x 350cm / carpet, wall

Restructuring Space

ongoing paper-based project since 2009

‚Restructuring Space #4’, 2014; sunflower-oil on old magazine ads; various measurements

‚Restructuring Space #3’, 2011; 16cm x 21cm /paper collage. Work in Progress. Sketches for real size paper installations on abandoned houses.

‚Restructuring Space #2′, 2010; In the 1930’s a lot of cinemas were built in the UK, of which many are disappearing. The facades of these impressive constructions are kept in this work as paper stencils.

‚Restructuring Space #1′, 2009; Collages of different sizes

 The chapel

2011, Site-specific Sound Installation
600cm x 200cm x 220cm /fabric, wood, sound, mixed media

‘The chapel’ is an architectonic sound installation made according to the existing architecture of a gallery space. Large canvases close the open space over two floors until the ceiling and only the two great towers of the neighboring building are seen through the rooftop windows. Behind the canvases are two walls of speakers facing inwards. The sounds of microphones that are placed throughout the gallery in front of other works of art are fed back directly to multiple channels in the speaker wall. When the visitor enters the gallery through the work, he hears the snippets of conversation and noise of the exhibition rooms behind. You can hear the show before you see it. The speakers are set on a very low level so one needs to get close to the  canvas. One listens to the interior of the gallery, similar to a confession room.

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The aural lookout

2012

During the Binaural Nodar residency in rural Portugal I got to know a few small villages and the remaining elderly inhabitants. The once cheerful places and the people showed no signs of the many festivities of the past. Though they couldn’t remember all the lyrics anymore I asked several elderlies to sing a local folksong and later composed a choir-piece from the bits and pieces. The aural lookout is standing on a well house, filled with water for the region, overseeing the villages. The coir-piece is played through speakers inside the well house, using the water as an amplifier to create a church-like atmosphere. Walking inside the aural lookout, the visitors hear the choir as well as their own steps and vibrations through headphones that are connected to microphones below.

The aural lookout, Site-specific sound installation
200cm x 160cm x 300cm; feed bag fabric/ wood/ headphones / microphones/ speakers

Readjustments (The aural lookout), Series of cut-outs from black and white copies, different sizes

sketches