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Grey Study (Surfer), 2003 The Series Grey Study (Surfer), pictures of surfers waiting for waves in the morning mist on the Californian coastline, photographed in July 2003, was part of an investigation in new metaphorical connections between the common traditional imagery concepts of Old Europe and the New World America. In early 2003 I got a grant for the Villa Aurora in Pacific Palisades. The Villa Aurora belonged to the German emigree writer Lion Feuchtwanger who had to flee Nazi Germany in the late 30ies. Back then the Villa was the major meeting point for the German emigrees like Thomas Mann, Bertold Brecht and many more. After learning about Feuchtwanger's forced emigration from Europe, a concept evolved relating to the German Romantic tradition of Caspar David Friedrich and the Sublime as a reference system and bridge between "home" Europe and "exile" America that could also throw a pop twist into the zen/formalist seascape genre. The Grey Study Series was photographed in early July 2003 below the Villa Aurora/LA where Sunset Boulevard meets the Pacific Coast Highway. |
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