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Yvez Netzhammer, Dialogical Abrasions, 2010. Photo by Brian Slater.

Dialogical Abrasions (2010)

Yves Netzhammer reflects on fundamental, even subconscious, aspects of the human condition. In this newly commissioned piece, he pares human figures back to their most basic forms in a narrative whose non-linear storyline suggests a flashback following an accident. A three-dimensional animation focuses on characters who are struggling to remember situations that are lost or strangely misshapen by the collective consciousness. Objects are out of place and mutating - in a moment of clarity, they adopt a symbolic meaning that quickly morphs to a new meaning, rarely fixed. Using highly simplified forms, his animations create a wordless, dream-like universe where the viewer is challenged to interpret and associate the situations presented.

Underpinning this work is a desire to explore the philosophical and psychological relationship between humans and objects through a phenomenological approach.

In Gallery 2, his animation is set in a site-specific sculptural installation. Objects drawn from the animation are realised in three dimensions, in a similarly concise yet incongruous aesthetic. Splitting the gallery into two layers - 'above' and 'below' - the audience's movement is restricted by a labyrinth of 'trenches', where symbolic meaning is revealed from various perspectives. The result is an eerie effect whereby objects are not quite what they seem; an immersive space where the laws of existence are not obvious. A soundscape by collaborator and composer Bernd Schurer draws the viewer further into this universe.

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