Aura Research, "Nietzsche's baptizing church" 1997
Nina FISCHER & Maroan EL SANIThe "Aura Research" series seeks to visualize the human aura, invisible to the naked eye or traditional optical photography, using Kirlian photography*, invented in 1939 by inventor and researcher Semyon and his wife Valentina KIRLIANA in the former Soviet Union. The series' subjects are rooms either previously inhabited by German historical figures or missing owners but maintained by somebody else (in either case, spaces used as a kind of blank state). This work, developed to visualize the invisible, questions anew the history of technology since the 19th century which presumed that psychological activity generated discharges which could be recorded later, and the utopian ideals behind such thinking, at the same time is an attempt at exhibiting visions of other worlds through alternative media. On view from this series is the Kirlian photography taken inside the church in which Friedrich Wilhelm NIETZSCHE** was baptized, along with an optical photo taken from the same position.
*A device to make photograms from objects using a high voltage alternating current device. The underlying physics (which make xerographic copying possible) were first by Georg Christoph LICHTENBERG, and later researched by Nikola TESLA.
**Friedrich Wilhelm NIETZSCHE, the philosopher and classical philologist, born the son of a Lutheran pastor in 1844 later came to refute core tenants of Western civilization such as Christianity and Egalitarianism. Interview with the artist is available in "Voices on LiS."
| >Details | ProfileNina FISCHER (b. Emden, Germany, 1965, resident in Berlin and Sapporo) and Maroan EL SANI (b. Duisburg, Germany, 1966, resident in Berlin and Sapporo). These artists have developed projects to explore the social and historical meaning of "ghost"-like subjects, floating in ruins, and "forgotten" places, through media such as film, photography, and installations. They have been active in Japan since the mid-90s, shooting and screening films, and presenting solo and group shows in venues such as the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography. They currently work as Associate Professors at Sapporo City University.
http://www.fischerelsani.net/