The motif here is a beach in the town of Dinard, Brittany, a region that is known to have the strongest tides in Europe. The beach is fascinating at low tide, when parts of the sand are revealed that are silver-looking due to it being permanently soaked in water, mirroring the surrounding cliffs and houses on top. One of those houses served as a model for the house in Hitchcock's
, who regularly visited the place and has his statue on the promenade. The stillness of the silvery water, with silver itself relating to the history of photography, must be what triggered the idea to apply an extraordinary stillness to the water of the sea, which in
, has become one gigantic quiet surface. The whole scene has an icy feel to it, despite it clearly being set in summer. The materials seem to contradict one another, or exchange one another's properties. After longer observation of this warm summer scene, it would appear that we can no longer read the materials as we did at the beginning, as if the stillness of photography - this work is presented as a digital slide-show- was reflected in the materials, now icy.
This effect is amplified by a young boy splashing in to the water, shown in detail towards the end of the film. By the time we have come to this part of the film, his act no longer feels as if performed on water, but on crystal or ice.
is exemplary of the search for materiality in digital, a preoccupation that only seems to increase in significance as we exchange large parts of a material world for a digital environment.
Haubrok Foundation/FAHRBEREITSCHAFT, Berlin, "film", 2024
Haubrok Foundation/FAHRBEREITSCHAFT, Berlin, "film", 2024
Garage Museum of Contemporary Art Moscow 2021 photo Ivan Erofeev © Garage Museum of Contemporary Art
Garage Museum of Contemporary Art Moscow 2021 photo Ivan Erofeev © Garage Museum of Contemporary Art
© Kunsthaus Bregenz, 2018 photo Markus Tretter
© Kunsthaus Bregenz, 2018 photo Markus Tretter
Talbot Rice Gallery Edinburgh, 2018
Talbot Rice Gallery Edinburgh, 2018
haubrok foundation, Berlin 2015 (photo L. Paffrath, © haubrok foundation)
haubrok foundation, Berlin 2015 (photo L. Paffrath, © haubrok foundation)
Marabouparken Konsthall, Sundbyberg, 2015 (photo Jean-Baptiste Béranger)
Marabouparken Konsthall, Sundbyberg, 2015 (photo Jean-Baptiste Béranger)
Marabouparken Konsthall, Sundbyberg, 2015 (photo Jean-Baptiste Béranger)
Marabouparken Konsthall, Sundbyberg, 2015 (photo Jean-Baptiste Béranger)
Project Arts Centre Dublin 2015 (photo Ros Kavanagh)
Project Arts Centre Dublin 2015 (photo Ros Kavanagh)
Project Arts Centre Dublin 2015 (photo Ros Kavanagh)
Adam Art Gallery, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, 2015 (photo: Shaun Waugh)
Adam Art Gallery, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, 2015 (photo: Shaun Waugh)
Tel Aviv Museum (Helena Rubinstein Pavilion), 2012 (photo Elad Sarig)
Kunsthalle Mainz, 2014 (photo Norbert Miguletz)
19th Biennale of Sydney at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, 2014 (photo Sebastian Kriete)
Nederlands Fotomuseum, Rotterdam, 2014 (photo Jan Adriaans)
Parasol unit, London, 2012
Secession, Vienna, 2012 (photo Wolfgang Thaler)
The Quiet Shore (Trousers with Flowers), 2012, washed ink and pencil on paper, 36 x 48 cm
The Quiet Shore (Grey Day), 2012, washed ink and pencil on paper, 46 x 61 cm
The Quiet Shore (Jeantine), 2011, washed ink and pencil on paper, ink-jet print, watercolor, crayon, and felt-tip pen on paper, 42 x 59 cm
The Quiet Shore (Ardie and Vera), 2011, ink-jet print, watercolor, crayon, and felt-tip pen on paper, 42 x 59 cm
The Quiet Shore (The Point of Onterest), 2012-13, washed ink and pencil on paper, 46 x 61 cm