Translocal, Transnational, and Hybrid Spatial Spaces

We (Francesca Ceola and Simone Rueß) designed a processual multimedia workshop to encounter, reflect upon, and upend questions on translocality, of transnationalism, and of hybrid cultural and space-oriented structures. Working actively with the workshop room using time-based, graphic, and performative languages, we aimed to ground broad, abstract concepts in graspable experiences. We first got into the atmosphere of thinking visually by watching and discussing Camilo Bravo Molano’s audio-visual work “Liquid Homes”: a film portrait mapping a displaced person’s experience in Portugal. The participants were then invited to share ideas and explore possibilities to translate and elaborate on the broad concepts of translocality, transnationalism, and hybrid spatialities. We used graphic prompts, language, and performative explorations to enhance this embodied analysis that we developed both individually, then collectively. The workshop closed with a lecture by Prof. Dr. Magdalena Nowicka through a self-reflection on spatialities of migrants and transnational affect. She put in words aspects and differences of transnational and translocal homes introduced to us through Bravo Molano’s film images in the beginning of the workshop.

More to read about on our blogpost @sfb1265

Facing Pairs and Changing Dialogue Partners: A Drawing-Exchange in Transition

The participants were sitting along tables, in a line, in the room. In the middle of the tables, a line of drawings was laid out: to stimulate sensorial reflections including division, connection, detachment, leaving behind, and new beginnings. The lines drawn on paper represented a visual simplification of complex relationships of translocality, transnationality or hybridity. They could be associated with borders, border crossings, border dissolutions, and separation. The drawing paper and pens handed out to each participant invited personal pictorial reproductions, transformations, or further developments of the graphic proposals. Participants in pairs exchanged about the graphics lying between them in one moment, only to be urged to abandon the conversation at the next, leaving their exchanges behind, and proceeding to the following dialogue partner. Engaging in couple-of-minutes increments almost overwhelmed us with a threefold intensity: the sound of all engaged voices, the flow of ideas, and the frantic timing of conversation changes.

The series of drawings laid out on the tables to initiate and orient participants’ conversations were inspired by the artist Chiara Carrer’s book Pensar el espacio. Reflejos, superficies, y colores (transl. “Thinking the Space. Reflections, surfaces, and colors”). Some drawings are a direct re-interpretation of Chiara Carrer, while others were developed from the drawing research of Simone Rueß and her conversations on spatial imaginations with more than 30 interviewees from all over the world. (excerpt of the blogpost @sfb1265)

A Room with Borders, Barriers, and Open Forms: An Embodied Non-verbal Interaction

(...)

Participants were confronted with the challenge of having to leave their present position in the room to reach another point in the space, limited by the four structural walls but also some additional cardboard walls. Acting in their own space, participants initially imperceptibly created a common structure of changing distances in the room. Forms and shapes of paper left behind, foreign lines, and cut-outs found at the next position, they gradually triggered more conscious interactions with spatial traces of the others. One sequential letter after the other, local and migrated shapes formed fragile hybrid common figurations. (excerpt of the blogpost @sfb1265)

Islands of Creation and Synthesis: Individual and Collective Reflexion, drawings and ensembles by María Linares (1), anonymous participant (2), Ludovica Tomarchio (3), Workshop part 5, 2024.

Islands of Creation and Synthesis: Individual and Collective Reflections in a Shared Space

(...)

The rapid, time-framed and place-constrained interactions explored during the workshop can be observed and were intentionally initiated as cues for refiguration of spatial, social, psychological, and cognitive (as in how associations of ideas are enhanced) arrangements and constellations that tell us something around concepts of translocality, transnationality, and hybrid cultural space-oriented structures. The setup of a laboratory with sequential tasks and reflection allowed us to grasp the nature of these spatial structures both in an abstract and elementary way. Film, verbal exchange, figurative language, movement, drawing, symbols, performance, objects, language, and lecture. In diverse media and transdisciplinary reflections, we looked at these formats and terms from various sides, as if we deconstructed their characters into multifaceted multiple layers. Thinking towards expanding the edges of the refiguration theory vis-à-vis territorial structures, we engaged with the diffracted meanings of translocalization with a postnationalist critique to explore practices, memories, and meaning-making at multiple levels: socio-material, ecological-economic, and symbolic-transcendent. As a result, the drift of notions, shifts, and hybridization were not just a conceptual exercise but also a figurative and embodied one". (Conclusion in our blogpost @sfb1265)

ZUHAUSE/HOME

People with experiences of flight and migration often create a new home in temporary forms of housing such as container villages. At the same time, they remain connected to their homeland through memories and contacts with those “back home,” while seeking ways to live out their cultural everyday needs.

In a workshop at Kunsthalle Tübingen, I invited participants from Afghanistan, Albania, Armenia, Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon, Nigeria, and Pakistan to share memories of a home, to explore mental images of their current (hybrid) home, and to imagine visions of a future form of living. These individual ideas were captured in a collective large-scale drawing and documented in a video – both as a creative process and as a vision of communal life.

Menschen mit Flucht- und Migrationserfahrung schaffen sich meist in temporären Wohnformen wie Containerdörfern ein neues Zuhause. Gleichzeitig bleiben sie über Erinnerungen und Kontakte zu „Daheimgebliebenen“ mit ihrer Heimat verbunden und suchen nach Möglichkeiten, ihre kulturellen Alltagsbedürfnisse zu leben. In einem Workshop in der Kunsthalle Tübingen lud ich Teilnehmer*innen aus Afghanistan, Albanien, Armenien, Türkei, Irak, Libanon, Nigeria und Pakistan ein, Erinnerungen an ein Zuhause zu teilen, mentale Bilder eines derzeitigen (hybriden) Zuhauses zu erkunden und Visionen einer zukünftigen Wohnform zu imaginieren. Diese individuellen Vorstellungen wurden in einer gemeinsamen großformatigen Zeichnung festgehalten und in einem Video dokumentiert – als kreativer Prozess und als Vision eines kollektiven Zusammenlebens.

In addition, together with the participants, we explored their inner images of home in narrative interviews, which I then translated into drawings. In this way, mental spatial images emerged that make visible both personal sensitivities, hybird identities and the socio-spatial conditions of refugees.

Ergänzend ergründete ich zusammen mit den Teilnehmer*innen in narrativen Interviews deren innere Bilder vom Wohnen, welche ich anschließend in eigene Zeichnungen übersetzte. So entstanden mentale Raumbilder, die persönliche Befindlichkeiten, hybride Identitäten, ebenso wie sozial-räumliche Gegebenheiten Geflüchteter sichtbar machen.

Blaue luftdurchlässige Wolke (vor März 2020), I

Harte Zeiten – Ciężkie Czasy

Simone Rueß (2021). de-re-konstrukt – "Lass uns von vorne beginnen...", pp. 98-107

Rosafarbene Wolke (März 2020)

Hell-mittelgraue Wolke (März 2022)

Newspaper & Breakfast Buffet as in a Hotel

Körper mit verschiedenen Schichten

K. H. Stauffer (space biography)

Since September 2019, artist Simone Rueß has been visiting people with dementia in the Stephanus Foundation's Ernst Berendt House. In returning conversations, she invited them to describe their spatial experiences, which she then visualized in drawings. In 2022 she presented the series of drawings in the exhibition “FRAGILE REMEMBERING” on the site of the Stephanus Foundation, together with an site-specific installation in the Friedenskirche.

In the direct neighborhood of the exhibition FRAGILE REMEMBERING, the open air cinema Freilichtbühne Weißensee was showing a short film portrait of K. H. Stauffer, which documents the moment of fragile memory of biographical experiences. K. H. Stauffer fled with his family in 1945 from present-day Poland to the Rhineland-Palatinate, where he grew up with his family on a four-sided farm. He later managed this farm by himself for many years. Resettlement and escape as well as the Iron Curtain play a central role in his memories. In addition to a spatial biography album, which the artist is constantly expanding in collaboration with the protagonist, we see and hear three excerpts from the large-scale project “Space/Time/Resonance” (2022), in which Simone Rueß explores “how geopolitical caesuras are written down in spatial biographical narratives…”

Seit September 2019 besucht die Künstlerin Simone Rueß Menschen mit demenziellen Veränderungen im Ernst-Berendt-Haus der Stephanus Stiftung. In wiederkehrenden Gesprächen lässt sie sich Raumerlebnisse beschreiben, welche sie im Nachhinein zeichnerisch visualisiert und 2022 in der Ausstellung „FRAGILES ERINNERN“ auf dem Gelände der Stephanus Stiftung präsentiert.

In unmittelbarer Nachbarschaft zeigt die Freilichtbühne Weißensee anlässlich der Ausstellung FRAGILES ERINNERN ein Kurzfilm-Portrait von K. H. Stauffer, welches den Augenblick des fragilen Erinnerns an biografische Erlebnisse dokumentiert. K. H. Stauffer floh mit seiner Familie 1945 aus dem heutigen Polen in die Pfalz, wo er mit seiner Familie auf einem Vier-Seiten-Hof aufwuchs. Später bewirtschaftete er selbst jahrelang diesen Hof. Die Flucht sowie der Eiserne Vorhang spielen in seinen Erinnerungen eine zentrale Rolle. Neben eines Raumbiografie-Albums, das die Künstlerin in Kollaboration mit dem Protagonisten ständig erweitert, sehen und hören wir drei Auszüge aus dem umfassenden Projekt „Space/Time/Resonance“(2022), in dem sich Simone Rueß damit befasst, „wie sich geopolitische Zäsuren in raumbiografische Erzählungen niederschreiben...“

K. H. Stauffer (space biography), 2019-2022, short film, Freilichtbühne Weißensee, based on conversations with K. H. Stauffer, 4min

Animation

Diagrams with a vertical historical timeline and a horizontal narrative timeline summarize the narratives (in this case narratives by K. H. Stauffer). Weightings of certain space biographical data become visible in relation to memory capacity. Superpositions and condensations reveal how certain experiences of respondents, influenced by geopoliti- cal caesuras, acquire more frequented resonance.

Light recording [micro-light installation]
On the 18th of January, 2022, for the duration of eight hours, daylight was recorded on a sheet of paper with a small funnel in a darkened room on a micro scale while appearing on a monitor via a webcam. The digital light cone translates the phenomenon of filtering perceptions onto the screen (as a magnified sensor).

Sound piece by Catherine Lamb
Filtered ambient sounds are the basis of the piece inter sum (2019). Taking into account the various transitions of acoustic perception between indoors and outdoors, Lamb applies a resonance band-pass filter to her ambient field with her synthesizer instrument, thus reflecting the constantly fluctuating field of attention.

Lichtaufnahme [Mikrolichtinstallation]

Am 18. Januar 2022 wurde für die Dauer von acht Stunden in einem abgedunkelten Raum Tageslicht auf einem Blatt Papier mit einem kleinen Trichter im Mikromaßstab aufgenommen und über eine Webcam auf dem Monitor eingeblendet. Der digitale Lichtkegel übersetzt das Phänomen der Filterung von Wahrnehmungen auf die Leinwand (als vergrößerter Sensor).

Klangstück von Catherine Lamb

Gefilterte Umgebungsgeräusche sind die Grundlage von Lambs Stücks inter sum (2019). Unter Berücksichtigung der unterschiedlichen Übergänge der akustischen Wahrnehmung zwischen drinnen und draußen wendet Lamb mit ihrem Synthesizer-Instrument einen Resonanz-Bandpassfilter auf ihr Umgebungsfeld an und hält so das ständig schwankende Aufmerksamkeitsfeld fest.

Hinterm Schlagzeug und eine Person im Publikum

Dynamik aus dem Schlagzeug heraus

Vielschichtige flexible Gebilde

Nehme Klangwellen auf und transformiere sie

Zuhause – Hinter dem Schlagzeug

INhabit 2018/2020

In 2018, I collected mental images of home in my INhabit project with the help of around 60 narrative interviews from Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Israel, the Czech Republic, Germany, Thailand, etc. During the lockdown, for many „home“ became a home office. Professional and private activities all took place in the same place. In 2020, I juxtapose the mental images from 2018 with new conversations with the same interviewees. These are presented on posters at bus stops during the festival in the public space „ADAPTACJE"
in Gorzów Wielkopolskie (2021), curated by Marta Gendera.

2018 sammle ich in meinem Projekt „INhabit“ Vorstellungen von Zuhause mithilfe von ca. 60 narrativen Interviews aus Italien, Holland, Belgien, Israel, Tschechien, Deutschland, Thailand etc. Während des Lockdowns wurde das Zuhause für viele zum home office und die beruflichen und privaten Tätigkeiten fanden alle am selben Ort statt. 2020 stelle ich die mentalen Bilder von 2018 erneuten Gesprächen mit denselben Interviewten gegenüber. Diese werden während des Festivals im öffentlichen Raum „Adaptacje“ in Gorzów Wielkopolskie (2021) auf Plakaten an Bushaltestellen präsentiert.

INhabit

Home is the central place from which our everyday activities start and return. In the INhabit project, I explore what ideas individuals actually have about home. In conversations, I ask people to describe their individual mental images of “home” and then transform them into drawings. The constantly growing collection of images of the most diverse perceptions of “home” includes around 60 interviews with people from Italy, Holland, Belgium, Israel, the Czech Republic, Germany, Thailand etc. The conversations on which the drawings are based took place live in the exhibition 999: A Collection of Questions on Contemporary Living, 201. During the Covid pandemic, I was gradually contacting the interviewees again in 2020 in order to follow the changes in their ideas as a result of the lockdown.

Das Zuhause ist der zentrale Ort, von wo aus unsere alltägliche Aktivitäten starten und zurückführen. Welche Vorstellungen der/die Einzelne von Zuhause tatsächlich hat, beleuchte ich in dem Projekt INhabit. In Gesprächen lasse ich mir individuelle mentale Bilder von „Zuhause“ beschreiben und transformiere diese anschließend in Zeichnungen. Die stetig wachsende Ansammlung an Bildern unterschiedlichster Auffassungen von „Zuhause“ umfasst bisher um die 60 Interviews mit Menschen aus Italien, Holland, Belgien, Israel, Tschechien, Deutschland, Thailand etc. Die den Zeichnungen zugrunde liegenden Gespräche finden live in der Ausstellung 999 Questions on Contemporary Living 2018 statt. Während Corona kontaktiere ich 2020 nach und nach die Gesprächspartner*innen von Neuem, um die Veränderungen der Vorstellungen durch den Lockdown zu verfolgen.

The exhibition 999: A Collection of Questions on Contemporary Living was a "sweeping investigation of the concept of house and home, living and dwelling, on the borderline between the physical and digital worlds." It was concepted as an ever-changing exhibition, which evolved in space and time "through communities, companies, activists, schools, multinational corporations, informal groups, research centres, designers, and artists. The exhibition was conceived and curated by Stefano Mirti and took place at La Triennale di Milano from 12 January to 2 April 2018. As an artist-in-residence at BASE Milano, I was invited to contribute to this show with the participative project INhabit during within 3 weeks.

Exhibition view (detail), *INhabit* a participative project as part of *999: A Collection of Questions on Contemporary Living* at La Tirennale di MIlano. Photo: Simone Rueß.

An extension to another space

Płocka (Movement Space)

The movement which takes place every day follows
the given spatial and architectural elements and
forms an additional invisible space within and in
relation to the architecture. This movement space
is shaped through an aggregation of moves over a
longer period and usually has soft, round edges, as
corners are generally avoided by people. After observing
and tracking the daily paths between rooms and
objects in the apartment in Płocka Street in Warsaw
Poland, I moulded the body of movements with its
soft round edges in silicone.

Alle Fortbewegungen und Handlungen über einen längeren Zeitraum zu einer Gleichzeitigkeit räumlich zusammengefasst, ergeben den Bewegungsraum innerhalb der Wohnungseinrichtung. Das Silikonobjekt ist eine abstrakte Annäherung an meinen Bewegungsraum in der Ulica Plocka der Jahre 2009-2011.

Movement Space (Płocka), 09.12.2011, pencil on paper, 42 x 29.7 cm

Płocka (Movement Space), 2012, Silicon, 9 x 27 x 50 cm

"Da hat Gott mich hingestellt" (K. H. Stauffer)

Küchentisch: da passierte viel! (K. H. Stauffer)

Zuhause (A. A., 2023)

A. A. is a writer and dentist born in Deir Ezzor, Syria. He grew up in the Ar Raqqa region, which is characterized by a cultural and linguistic intermingling. In Damascus he pursued his studies and his profession. After a short stay in Mauritania, A. A. left Syria forever in 2013 and fled to Germany via Beirut (2015). In 2018, his family came to Germany. After successful language courses and medical exams, A. A. works now in Berlin as a dentist.

With A. A., we had our first space/biography conversation in 2016. Later we met again in 2021, 2022 and 2023. In continuing conversations we reflected on the changes in spatial biographical perceptions, . In this drawing series from 2023, we can follow reflexions on relations between memories and the feeling of home, the language and translocal and transnational social spaces.

Heutiges Leben: Erinnerungen in der Zukunft.

Erinnerungen als Zuhause. Viele Icons auf Desktop.

Die Wohnung hat viele Ecken, so wie das Gehirn.

дома : память

Drzwi

W roku 2018 Simone Rueß przeprowadziła blisko 60 rozmów narracyjnych z osobami z Włoch, Holandii, Belgii, Izraela, Niemiec, Polski, Tajlandii i innych krajów. Po rozmowie artystka wizualizuje za pomocą rysunku wyobrażenia domu swoich rozmówców. W roku 2020 Simone Rueß skonfrontowała te wypowiedzi z doświadczeniem pandemii, dokumentując jak zmienia się postrzeganie przestrzeni domowej w izolacji na całym świecie (tekst: Marta Gendera)

Rome

2018, Adele Giacoia related the city Rome with the meaning of home and described it as a large, open labyrinth structure of books that you can walk through. 2020, the same city, Rome, was still connected with the meaning of „home“, but now Adele Giacoia created a mental image of a DNA-like structure, where you could only walk through mentally with the help of your memory.

Inhabit 2018/2020: During my residency and exhibition at the Triennale di Milano, 2018, I collected, in the form of narrative interviews, over 60 mental images of home, from people from Europe, Taiwan, Israel, etc. During the pandemic lockdown 2020, for many people, the home became the home office. Professional and private activities took all place in the same place. I met my interviewees of 2018 again, this time virtually, and I asked for their current mental image of home in times of pandemic lockdown. Transformed into drawings, the contrasts between the ideas of home from 2018 and 2020 are presented on posters at bus stops during the festival in public space "Adaptacje" in Gorzów Wielkopolskie, 2021.

Wortschatz. Arabische Sprache

Suitcase and cupboard

Alternate homeless person

W atakach paniki, nie ma ogóle czym oddychać

Harte Zeiten – Ciężkie Czasy

appartement

Körper mit verschiedenen Schichten

Hinterm Schlagzeug und eine Person im Publikum

Vielschichtige flexible Gebilde

Garten

Flat

Dehnende Wände

Die Wohnung hat viele Ecken, so wie das Gehirn.

дома : память

Rome

My flat

Suitcase and cupboard

Alternate homeless person

Relation structure

Spine of a Fish