My work investigates the rapidly changing relationship and interdependence of nature and culture. It reflects ecological concerns and comments on the loss of the metaphysical quality in our relationship to nature, but also criticizes the notion of nature as an idealized sanctuary.
Sometimes resembling "laboratory" settings, the installations juxtapose natural phenomena and scientifically controlled manipulation. Video images reference chemical and biological processes, often evoking a subconscious or visceral response. In this interaction new mysteries are created, defying scientific logic and the quest for predictability and control.
Several installation pieces address evolutionary issues, hybridization, and the paradox of our decreasing ability to define what nature really is. Drawing on idealized clichés of resort travel, the templates of corporate landscaping, and the ubiquitous nature references in interior design, they amalgamate ecologically diverse environments. Video loops link these “artificial” environments to “natural” phenomena analogous to the way media images play an ever more important cultural role by substituting for immersive experience.
Lothar Schmitz