Nachdem die Tate Modern in Southwark eröffnet wurde hat sich das öffentliche Interesse auf das ehemalige Industrieviertel gerichtet. Durch den Besucherzustrom können auch viele andere Institutionen profitieren, durchaus denkbar ist es auch das dieses Gebiet vom Tourismus überlaufen wird.

Mit meiner Arbeit verweise ich auf individuelle Erkennungsmerkmale im öffentlichen Raum und biete verschiedene Möglichkeiten der Betrachtung. Das Video, nimmt den Betrachter mit auf eine Reise durch ein Gebiet in dem Orientierung nur schwer möglich ist. Der Blick den die Videokamera ermöglicht, wechselt ständig von den Straßen in Southwark zu den Wegen aus meiner Kindheit, die ich unter anderem auch in Ohlsdorf verbracht habe. Persönliche Erinnerungen vermischen sich im Video mit den Eindrücken aus Southwark. Mein Hintergrund in Relation zur gegenwärtigen Situation rund um die Tate Modern.

In den zum Video abgespielten Interviews sind Bewohner von Southwark und Ohlsdorf zu hören, die mir den Weg erklären. Hierbei geht es mir um die Unterschiede, wie und woran sich Bewohner einer Stadt und die eines Dorfes orientieren. Die Interviews dienen auch als zusätzliche Hinweise zu dem Video. Hinweise, die einen auf andere Zusammenhänge bringen können und sich nicht direkt auf das Video beziehen. Damit soll das Herumirren in dem Stadt- Dorfgebiet noch verdeutlicht werden. Das Dorf, in dessen Zentrum die Kirche steht, nimmt Bezug zur Stadt, in der überall Schilder den Weg zur Tate Modern weisen.

DESCRIPTION "CITY TUNING"        
Working on my project I was thinking about the exchangeable and replaceable structures in the area of Southwark. In my opinion the identity of a city, town or village is a result of the required structures, for instance, the number of institutions or buildings which are for public use like, care facilities, supermarkets, schools, universities, transport connections and last but not least, museums and galleries.

All these influence, the possibilities you may have and consequently the value and quality of life. In reference to the quality, we have to consider the process of development. On the one hand "Who is it to decide the value of quality?", "Where does the money come from?" and on the other hand, "What does this mean to the people who actually live there?".

The Tate foundation has been interested in the Southwark area. Obviously the availability of the former Power Station building, which is now used as a museum, was one reason. Many other institutions can participate in the revaluation of the particular site. In Southwark the inhabitants can probably also profit from the changes.

My video installation shows a mixture between images of a tourist tour through Southwark, mainly the guided way from the new underground station to the TATE MODERN and streets I used to go in a small village where I grew up. (Ohlsdorf near Gmunden in upper Austria) I connect the impressions I got in Southwark with the memories I have from Ohlsdorf. My personal environment from my childhood in comparison to Southwark.

The main difference are the church which is in the centre of Ohlsdorf and the Tate Modern which is in the centre of Southwark. The images of this two buildings have visually a lot in common. For example the towers, which are for me like the observers watching the area around them. Furthermore there is a relation between religion and art, in Southwark the architecture speaks for itself. When I came for the first time to the Tate Modern I had the felling I´ m visiting a huge cathedral. The entrance hall is really massive and the people seemed to disappear. This new museum was not build to create a new idea of a museum it is thought to represent London as the "city number one" for modern art.

With my video I like to play with different images and the idea of finding or loosing orientation. I find it interesting how people describe their surrounding, because I think where you come from is more or less what you see, at least it influences you. It depends if you are from Ohlsdorf or Southwark how you look at the video. People who know Ohlsdorf will expect different thinks as people who know Southwark.

Within the video you walk apparently endless ways through a "no name area", without a final destination. Expectations along the way will be permanently deconstructed. Every time you turn left or right you change from the one area to the other, from the village to the city and back again.

The Installation also includes sound and interviews with people from Southwark and Ohlsdorf. The questions in the interview are about the orientation in their respective surrounding. At the end you have many links between the two areas and it depends on your background which one you get.