Hidden Architect

Attracted by moonlight, they can be equally attracted by another light source. The distinction between original and imitation causes confusion once they become walk-in realities. The exhibition Hidden Architect presents new work by Wagehe Raufi. The artist is concerned with forming processes, which she investigates using various media. Her approach is interdisciplinary and operates in the fields of new visual technologies and immersions in virtual reality. The regeneration and restaging of bodies are central to the artist's work. In the central video work "Hidden Architect - moths as mess" (2020), Raufi investigates the relationship between bodies and surfaces and the associated possibilities of spatializing images. The spaces generated for the video are based on excerpts from science fiction films, which the artist has processed using photogrammetry software. In this process of spatialization, the software tries to interpret the form and position of the depicted object on the basis of various images. Raufi (re-)stages and makes the 3D-spaces, which look like a scenery, virtually accessible. Some elements trigger nostalgic memories of well-known film sets and offer space for identification. The images, recycled and modified in the digital environments, silently indicate the viewing direction and speed. The video work thus negotiates questions of cinematic spatialization techniques. Rotations and blurring prevent one's own positioning in space. The journey through the scenery re-staged by Raufi evokes scientific and poetic associations. At the same time, the scientific approach underlying the work becomes visible. With the approach described, the artist tests her own hypotheses and confronts the insurmountable limitations that are included in the working process through the use of complex software programs. Leonore Spemann, curator Wagehe Raufi (b. 1990, lives and works in Berlin) studied with Susanne M. Winterling and Gunter Reski and graduated from University of Art and Design Offenbach in 2020. In 2017 she received the "SYN Award for interdisciplinary research" and took part in the Bauhaus Residency in Dessau. 2018/2019 she studied at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, China, for which she received a DAAD scholarship. The artist has shown at Frankfurter Kunstverein, Opelvillen Rüsselsheim, and Kunstverein Hannover. Together with art collective Blockadia*Tiefsee she has shown at Kunstverein Freiburg and Generali Foundation, Salzburg. Raufi participates in the exhibition "Soil Strings - Commoning and Compost" (with Blockadia*Tiefsee), currently at Synnika Space in Frankfurt am Main.