Defender is about the challenges artists face when showcasing both themselves and their work.
Defender is about the challenges viewers face in witnessing something they are not supposed to be.

Intimacy unveils a profound aspect of humanity, as it signifies our interdependence, demanding reliance on strangers. In doing so, we encounter closeness with others, enabling the formation of relationships that sustain communal life.

In the present era, our dependence on technology to share intimacy has become more pronounced than ever. Through the necessary process of recording, sharing and publishing, an incredible amount of detail is lost, often leaving only distorted and poor artefacts of the intimate expression.

Security, stability and social integration become pure fiction or products of conformity in the context of capitalism. Power dynamics within interpersonal relationships as well as institutional repression, hinder the unrestricted unfolding of intimacy. Forced to repress our own vulnerability, we detach ourselves from our bodies, our beloved ones and the surrounding environment.

The distinct vulnerability of the body in its helpless state during sleep and the manifestation of the subconscious through sleep talking become the primary focus of this work. There’s an intriguing yet captivating essence to sleep and dreaming, grounded in the power of loss: loss of control, loss of subjectivity. It is crucial that we distance ourselves from negative associations and recognise the potential of the unconscious as avenues for the transcendence, survival and the retention of joy.

The revelation of intimacy comes to the fore through sound recordings capturing the artist’s own sleep. The distorted sound quality of a conventional intercom system thus serves as the preacher of the subconscious. It can give you shivers when you hear this inner life from the distance: the abstract sounds of the completely uncontrolled voice suggest a direct transmission from the psyche – occasionally explicit, always surreal and often ambiguous. The installation goes a step further in restricting direct access to intimacy by incorporating various security elements commonly used in the traditional displaying of artwork. However the subconscious breaks through with all its contradictions, almost lamenting and appealing to one’s own relationship to intimacy. Thereby the viewer catches themself in the reflecting display stands. The simultaneous experience of passive observation and active participation marks the mutual dependence in the intimate connection with another.