Ersatzmonument
Sebastian Acker, Magdalena Fabianczyk, Elisabeth Rosenthal
2012
Site specific mixed media installation, found objects, styrofoam, wood, paint
Video projection (09:13min loop)
Sound installation (10:00min loop)
Dimensions variable
Ersatzmonument is a collaborative work by Sebastian Acker, Magdalena Fabianczyk and Elisabeth Rosenthal, produced during a two-week residency at C. Rockefeller Center for the Contemporary Arts in Dresden, Germany. Initiated by Elisabeth Rosenthal the project draws from the various skills and working methodologies of the artists involved and combines local knowledge with an ‘outsiders perspective’ in a site-responsive work. Being surrounded by sandstone, both in the immediate vicinity of the Gallery and the City of Dresden, the controversy surrounding the current use of this local building material on historical and contemporary facades formed the starting point for the work. Working with this material, often associated with regional identity and a nostalgic longing for a lost past, the work literally balances the weight of the subject. Sculptural elements which are suspended from the gallery ceiling – including a slab of sandstone made from styrofoam - and a video projection focus on representations of the stone, while a narrated sound piece connects them to their potential histories.
