INTER - extracts from the introductory speech
Senses and Sensibility in the Shared Space
by Dr Johannes Lothar Schršder
at the opening of the exhibition INTER
with Julia Bonn and Mika Neu On Shared Space in the EINSTELLUNGSRAUM, 2009.

I. Conceiving and illustrating spaces

 (...) In this exhibition Mika Neu is concerned with parasocialinterac-
tions between people in the Shared Space, and we are standing here within an experimental construction consisting of various different objects.

II. Repressed longing

(...) Mika NeuÕs objects tell stories which approach connections like these from the perspective of superstition. The superstitious find it not only indecent but also dangerous to look into the sleeve of a womanÕs blouse, which would risk catching sight of the devil. Anyone who thinks that such taboos have lost their potency due to the Enlightenment is wrong, even if sleeveless clothing is common today. The requirement that shoulders are covered in Italian churches is a marginal remnant of this taboo. Instead the fashion for shaving armpits, which originates in the USA, is spreading worldwide. The fear of the devil has shifted culturally, but clearly has not  vanished at all. The fear of arousal and losing control is still rampant, and it is motifs from folklore and superstition like these that Mika Neu has taken up and presents here in the installation of the object ÒdevilÕs tubeÓ. You can see this installation displayed in the window before  entering the
exhibition room. A congealed oozing substance has been drizzled onto the tube, the rack and the plinth, creating a repulsive impression. The plinth, which is made of tar, a substance traditionally associated with the devil and which stinks of bad luck and brimstone like the Òincarnate oneÓ, is encrusted with multiple layers of runny paint, leaving a chaotic impression. This is only slightly toned down by the fact that the surface of the marbled mass consists of pastel colours. Paint stalactites, on the other hand, give the impression of> > a solidified slime-mass, reminiscent of the special effect saliva in the films Alien I-III. On the wall opposite the ÒdevilÕs tubeÓ, a stream of black substance as thick as your arm leaks from a round golden frame. Neu considers it an Òemanation openingÓ, through which both the devilish and the godly can pass. The gaze, which is directed at the object via the ÒdevilÕs tubeÓ, gives the object a certain exclusivity. Aside from sexual and other  metaphors, a final stage of civilisationÕs metabolism can, of course, also be conveyed by it: a cloaca which discharges its contents into the sea or rivers from its wastepipes. (...)


III. The senses and their control mechanisms

1. Sense of sight
The ÒdevilÕs tubeÓ is a kind of telescope; and you donÕt need much imagination to conclude that it addresses the sense of sight. However, we should consider more than just the optical qualities of this device, as the senses by no means function purely mechanically. A camera can simulate the eye, but programmes can only simulate the processing of images carried out by the brain to a limited extent. Any image-editing software would have difficulties producing all the possible associations which are culturall transmitted. In addition a photograph has to be fixed, to which purpose the optical device has to be equipped with a sensor or a film so that the photographs are  available after the
The 7th exhibition in project  shared space 2009 of  EINSTELLUNGSRAUM e.V.
Vernissage
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