Nina E. Schönefeld
W H Y D O W E K I L L, 2022
HD Video, b/w & color, sound, 6:39 minutes
single-channel version of multichannel video installation
About the Works
Nina E. Schönefeld’s new work was created in response to the outbreak of war in Ukraine, which is still ongoing at the time of this exhibition. This work is visually and aurally striking reflection on mankind’s oxymoronic capacity to comingle beauty and violence, strength and frailty, humanity and inhumanity.
ARTIST STATEMENT
W H Y D O W E K I L L is a video project that is a direct reaction to the situation we are facing in times of war. It is about the feeling of constant insecurity and a panicky, invisible threat. Images of a dancer and various quotes from different sources on the subject of violence are condensed into a kind of collage to create a feeling of our worst nightmares.
Violence is the use of force to injure, abuse, damage, or destroy. It is "the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, which either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, mal-development, or deprivation." Alternatively, violence can primarily be classified as either instrumental or reactive and hostile. Unlike the other two broad categories, the subcategories of collective violence suggest possible motives for violence committed by larger groups of individuals or by states. Collective violence that is committed to advance a particular social agenda include crimes of hate committed by organized groups, terrorist acts and mob violence. Political violence includes war and related violent conflicts, state violence and similar acts carried out by armed groups. Slow violence is a long-duration form of violence which is often invisible, such as environmental degradation, pollution and climate change.
The complex theme of violence is connected to a systemic problem of the world. The principle of constant economic growth, combined with globalization, is creating a scenario where we could see a systemic collapse of our planet's natural resources. Capitalism is inherently exploitative, alienating, unstable, unsustainable, and inefficient and it creates massive economic inequality, commodifies people, degrades the environment, is anti-democratic, and leads to an erosion of human rights because of its incentivization of imperialist expansion and war. W H Y D O W E K I L L ?
- Nina E. Schönefeld
About the Artist
Nina E. Schönefeld was born in Berlin. She is half Polish and half German. She studied at the University of Arts in Berlin (UDK) and at the Royal College of Art in London. Since several years she has given lectures in Fine Art at private Art Colleges. Together with Marina Wilde she founded "Last Night In Berlin" a cultural platform about art openings in Berlin. She holds a Master of Arts and a PhD in Art Theory (Dr. Phil.). Schönefeld lives and works in Berlin (& sometimes in Ibiza). Nina E. Schönefeld works as an interdisciplinary video artist. The future scenarios in her art works are closely linked to current political, ecological and social issues in the world. She operates with a system of different light sources, sound systems, electronic machines, newly built sculptures, costumes, interiors and video screenings.
Recent exhibitions include, in 2022: Video Installation @Habibi Kiosk, Münchner Kammerspiele / Art Speaks out @COP27, EGYPT /Ikono TV / TRILOGY OF TOMORROW @Haus am Lützowplatz / Sirens are calling from the shadows @ A:D:CURATORIAL Gallery / OH MY DATA @Diskurs Gallery Berlin / HAZE CITY @Artspring-Festival in Berlin / A portrait of Spirits @Berlin Bark Gallery. In 2021: Facing New Challenges: Cities @Heidelberger Kunstverein, Heidelberg, Germany / States Of Emergency @MOMENTUM, Kunstquartier Bethanien, Berlin / DECEMBER’S CHILDREN @Lage Egal, Berlin / Corona Culture @Alte Münze, Berlin / The Circle @CICA MUSEUM, Gyeonggi-Do, Korea / Gods & Monsters @Kunstverein Familie Montez, Frankfurt a.M., Germany / SWAB Barcelona Art Fair 2021 (Lage Egal), Barcelona, Spain / Seoul International ALT Cinema & Media Arts Festival (NeMaf), Seoul, Korea / HER Power @Art Life Foundation, Hong Kong, China / Embark @129 GALLERY (Western Comfort Boat), Berlin / Points of Resistance @Zionskirche (MOMENTUM / KleinerVonWiese Gallery), Berlin / SIGNALE @ARTSPRING-Festival in Berlin / Roppongi Art Night @Roppongi Art Festival, Tokyo, Japan. In 2020: Facing New Challenges: Water @Heidelberger Kunstverein, Heidelberg, Germany / D1G1TAL S3CR3TS @Die Digitale, Weltkunstzimmer, Düsseldorf, Germany / At the Limit @Kunsthalle Bratislava Museum, Slovakia / Boxenstopp @KWADRAT Gallery, Berlin / Beyond Elysium @Kleiner Von Wiese Galerie, Berlin / Something True @Schau Fenster, Berlin / #Payetonconfinement @Galerie la Pierre Large, Strasbourg, France / COVIDecameron @ MOMENTUM / Kunstquartier Bethanien, Berlin / N.O R.O.C.2.3. @Contemplatio Art, Germany / L’Artiste Et Les Commissaires @Lage Egal, Berlin. In 2019: L.E.O.P.A.R.T. @Philipp Haverkampf Galerie, Berlin / Trilogy of Tomorrow @Galerie la Pierre Large, Strasbourg, France / Show Me Your Selfie @Aram Art Museum, Seoul, South Korea / Salon Hansa: InterINTIMES AutoPORTRAIT @Lachenmann Art Konstanz, Germany / Salon Hansa: InterINTIMES_AutoPORTRAIT @Lachenmann Art Frankfurt/Main, Germany / SHOW ME YOUR SELFIE @DISKURS Gallery, Berlin / Topographies of The Stack @Alternative Culture Making Art Space, Shenzhen, China / Water(Proof) @Federation Square, Melbourne, VIC Australia / Zeit, sich zu berauschen @Salon Gallery, Berlin / +1 @Safe Gallery, Berlin / Water(proof) @ MOMENTUM / Kunstquartier Bethanien, Berlin / Anima Mundi Festival 2019 – Consciousness @Palazzo Ca' Zanardi, Venice, Italy / Anima Mundi Arts Festival @THE ROOM Contemporary Art Space, Venice, Italy / Il est temps de s’enivrer @Bamhaus Luxembourg, Luxembourg / Kommunizierende Röhren 2 @Salon Rene Holm, Berlin / Mitte Media Festival 2019, Berlin / Light Year 48: Digital Fairy Tales: Vengeance is Mine @Manhattan Bridge / The Leo Kuelbs Collection, New York, U.S. / Digital Fairy Tales: Vengeance is Mine @Made In NY Media Center by IFP, New York City, U.S. / ? Art Is My Revenge @Lage Egal, Berlin / Villa Heike & Other Stories @Villa Heike, Berlin / #Notsoawhitecube @Lage Egal, Berlin. And many more.