OBAMAINBERLIN are situated in a space between the bodies of work of the artists participating. Following the first eponymous exhibition at the Kunstverein Rosenheim in 2011 OBAMAINBERLIN develop a second long-term project called "Reconstruction of a Dead Zone", located in the border area of germany and poland between the split cities Guben and Frankfurt (Oder).
The real space of the border area OBAMAINBERLIN work on turns into a field which is identified with the space between the bodies of work. The culturally remote zone becomes a medium but is as well subject of intense dedication.
Within the openess of this space and its development OBAMAINBERLIN reconstruct commitment, responsability, freedom and love as dimensions of their artistic practice.
visitation, movement, supplementary
The activity in the 'Dead Zone' as a specific part of the polish-german border area makes the second chapter of cooperation by Vadim Zakharov and Niklas Nitschke, following the first eponymous exhibition OBAMAINBERLIN at the Kunstverein Rosenheim.
OBAMAINBERLIN assume that its practice in the Dead Zone cannot be made accessible by means of existing terms like e.g. 'work' or 'action'. By constituting an own terminology OBAMAINBERLIN want to distinguish their own activity from comparable forms of artistic practice, or, to put it positively, want to open up a space with a fresh and promising structure either in practice and its reflection.
visitation, -an ambivalent term with friendship and medical, but as well spiritistic connotations-, denotes the whole of activities, observations, records during an excursion through Dead Zone on a certain day. A visitation will be prepared to a certain degree while important parts result from the situation created by moving in Dead Zone itself. A movement defines a prepared action or chain of actions, for which requisites might be prepared to be applied at a specific place or area. The choice of such a place derives from the knowledge of place of Niklas Nitschke at first, him living in the area, since introducing a map at the third visitation (see image) places are defined by means of this map. Regarding a certain place such an action creates a certain movement, as much literal as mental, - a place is searched, found or missed, newly defined, the activity prepared is executed under the terms of the circumstances encountered. Improvisations are drawn from the situation, observations are recorded parallely, resulting in objects, videos or other types of artistic production in a common sense which are realised subseqently. In any case the movement performed on site is central, documentation materials or retroactive materials refering to it.
The musical connotation of the term 'movement' next to the literal meaning accounts for the choice of the term.
The observations, materials, artifacts, sometimes additional movements connected to a movement are perceived as extensions, replacing the first movement to a certain degree. Their secondary status is designated by the attribute supplementary.