Dora Imhof

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Dora Imhof is a postdoc at Institute for the History and Theory of Architecture (gta) at the Swiss Institute of Technology in Zurich. She studied art history, English literature and classical archaelogy in Basel and Edinburgh. Since 1997 she has been working as a freelance art critic. 1999-2000 she was curatorial assistant at the Museum für Gegenwartskunst in Basel. She received her Ph.D. in art history from the University of Basel in 2005. She worked as a project manager at Ink Tree Editions, Zurich (2004-2011) and as a manager for the LUMA Foundation (2006-2007). She has taught at the University of Zurich (2005-2011) and worked as a researcher at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (2011-2012). Publications: Wie erzählt „Der Sandmann“? Multiple Erzählung in den Film- und Videoinstallationen von Stan Douglas, Munich 2007; Interviews. Oral History in Kunstwissenschaft und Kunst, Munich 2010 (edited with Sibylle Omlin).

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Exposition: Crossing: Between the Italic Domus and the Artistic Environment (01/01/2012) by Krien Clevis
Dora Imhof 05/11/2012 at 09:53

The link between memory and place has been a central focus of interest for both the humanities and artistic production for a long time. Recently, also archaeology as a subject and method has gained new attention both in art and theory (cf. exh. ARKHAIOLOGIA. Archäologie in der zeitgenössischen Kunst, Centre PasquArt Biel, 2011; Knut Ebeling, Wilde Archäologien, Berlin 2012). The proposal is therefore situated in a vital and relevant context. The shifting of context, i.e. the connection of different sites (a house in ancient Pompeii and a part of a metro station in Amsterdam) is equally interesting and might be compared with other art works that work with similar strategies.

One central  aspect of this project is the artistic exploration of an ancient Roman house which will bring about different results and experiences than an classical archaeological study and transform archaeological research and personal exploration into an artistic and urban context.

I suggest to evaluate whether the concept of ‘genius loci‘ is strong enough as a basis for the research, also since several places are involved (the original Casa della Caccia Antica in Pompeii, the Amsterdam underground). The formal and intellectual connections between these two places and the reasons for bringing them together have to be strongly argued. How far does the “meeting of two worlds” reinforce the genius loci, or does it? What happens in this meeting of the two worlds (also for the recipient)? Can this meeting be called a synergy, or can it also have different effects, for instance provoke conflicting experiences? It might be helpful to also explore other concepts of site/place.

Another question concerns the form of the  “total installation” -the term used in the proposal suggests an immersive environment -, also the term Gesamtkunstwerk might be a bit misleading in this context:  how can it both “actualize the genius loci of the atrium house” and take into account the development of the ancient site over a large historical period, the changing uses, representational functions, relations between public and private spheres and hierarchies of the atrium house the project aims to explore? In what form will and can these be presented within the original size reconstruction in Amsterdam?