“Obwohl …” (Although …)
Thyra Schmidt
2015
30 x 40 cm (paper size)
Artist text
Archival Inkjet Print, framed
Thyra Schmidt’s latest series “Blaue T-Shirts, Jeans und Turnschuhe” (Blue T-Shirts, Jeans and Trainers), actually shown in an exhibition in Düsseldorf of the same name, presents nine works, all framed prints. There are two photos and seven texts by the artist. From this I’ve chosen “Obwohl …” (Although …) as artwork of the month of June.
Like the other artist texts of the series “Obwohl …” can be received as an abstract picture. For non German speakers this seems to be more evident, since the sense of the words remains hidden. This is even truer if the viewer cannot read Latin letters. On a white rectangle ground (portrait format) there are black signs, aligned to the left, often with spaces in between and left outs at the right side of the picture.
Translation:
Although
he never turns around,
she realizes
that
it is every time
a stranger,
whom she follows.
Still, understanding the text (or its translation), the arrangement of the words is more than a written down sentence. Reading it, we are forced to make breaks by the line break and the so created white spaces. These voids are giving time or forcing to reflect about the context, to wonder or to fill the holes. Prepared in lines five and six, the outcome of line seven is a disoriented surprise: a resistance of the art work against a simple perception and very poetically.
Thyra Schmidt:
Born in Pinneberg, Germany (1974) Thyra studied fine arts (painting and photography) at the University of Applied Sciences and Art in Hannover under Peter Tuma. After a guest residence at the Hiroshima City University (Japan) and studies at the University of Art (HBK) in Braunschweig under Dörte Eißfeldt, she went to the Kunstakademie (Academy of Fine Arts) Düsseldorf in the class of Thomas Ruff until 2005.
2003 she founded with other students of Thomas Ruff the artist group FEHLSTELLE, who realises art-projects in public space. Thyra’s individual works are sometimes as well situated in public space like “I can’t just be nowhere” in cooperation with the Goethe-Institute in Oslo (Norway) and “Staccato” for the Kunstverein (Art Association) Paderborn. In the same time her works are shown in numerous individual and group exhibitions in Germany and abroad such as France, Italy and Brazil. Her actual solo exhibition “Blaue T-Shirts, Jeans und Turnschuhe” (Blue T-Shirts, Jeans and Trainers) can be visited until 21st June 2015 at Martin Leyer-Pritzkow, Düsseldorf. Her initially mostly photo based works developed progressively to more text dominated. Nevertheless, even her poetic creations can be seen as pictures. Thyra lives and works in Düsseldorf.