In & Out (Of the Box) I, II, III, IV, 2012

Series Between Windows, 2012 by Janne Reuss

Exhibition Image German Consulate

For me, windows stand for spaces, borders, openings, barriers, or gates. Windows mark

the border between the inside and the outside world, between dream and reality. They make things visible or invisible and in this context they reveal a lot about the culture or the individual that inhabits there.

I am constantly searching for images of windows with my camera. In my work, I break and fragment these images manually and rearrange the pieces like a puzzle. In this process I want to create new spaces that express my main concern: The human restless striving for meaning and, the always present, duality between freedom and confinement.

In the Middle East, for example, dark blue opaque windows protect women and children in their homes from the foreign intruding look (and not from the desert heat and sun as I initially thought). You can see from the inside out but not the other way around… windows become a protective shield.

The photocollages In & Out (of Beijing) I+II, are a synthesis of an important artistic and cultural trip and encounter with a Chinese Artist from the 798 Art District in Beijing, in 2006. From hundreds of images of windows taken on this trip I chose the red ones for a reason.

The classic symbol of the view through a window in history of art represents a staged, aesthetic longing for endless open spaces, for the dream of freedom as well as a melancholic and pensive mood. On one side, I hold on to this idea, and my personal desire is to portray this moment of contemplation and longing as a sacred space, a silent open place of deep meaning. The delicat colors and transparencies stand for this magical and fragile perception. But on the other side I also address the view through a window, as being between windows, as an undefined temporary place of tension, of uncertainty and transition. In this case the window acts as a barrier that separates two worlds.

The enigmatic figure stands in these created spaces, between windows, sometimes clearly present, and other times just recognizable as a subtle shadow, but always in the position of an attentive, silent observer that oscillates between the inside and the outside world. In Between.

In & Out (Of the Box) I, 2012 Lightbox 55" x 35.5"

In & Out (Of the Box) II, 2012 Lightbox 55" x 35.5"

In & Out (Of the Box) III, 2012 Lightbox 55" x 35.5"

In & Out (Of the Box) IV, 2012 Lightbox 55" x 35.5"

In & Out (Of the Box) I, II, III, IV, 2012

55 x 35.5 in

Lightboxes

Handmade photocollages

Solo Show BETWEEN WINDOWS

CONTACT PHOTOGRAPHY FESTIVAL 2012

German Consulate Toronto