Alpenglühen is subject- or concept-driven. The motivation behind it was somehow linked to the political mise en scène of Germany in 2023. The specific theme is linked to the intensification of the reactionary, polemical and populist communication style of the conservative parties. The CSU, which has been annoying me for a long time, deserves special mention here. This diffuse mood required visual compensation, which manifested itself in the Alpenglow series.
Generated & curated raw material and final Deconstruction :: Alpenglühen Afterglow
For Alpenglühen I worked on many beautiful mountain scenes as a backdrop for distant monstrosities, abstract objects that alienate the overall image and destructive elements alongside the imitation of the traditional. I wanted to play with the mixture of the familiar and the aversion to the unfamiliar. The most important aspect was to create a familiar environment for an underlying disharmony.
I made research on traditional frames, obviously representing the good old and 'golden' times. Traditional and valuable. But as the idea of preserving the past is a perfect illusion or lie, all frames were generated by AI. I spent some time to focus on these frames.
The next phase was the work on the images. Exaggeration and brutalist flavour was part of many iterations.
Today, reactionary minds are back infecting Europe. Fascists are speaking on TV and no vision for the future is uniting people, but fear. And fear leads to hate.
Think twice about what your wish for.
