Alex Neumann, Dritte Option
405_Gallery Main Space, August 28th - October 16th, 2020
405_Gallery Main Space, August 28th - October 16th, 2020
405_Gallery presents a selection of works from the series Dritte Option by the Germany-based artist collective Alex Neumann.
These works are the reflections of Alex, a third-gender individual, in collaboration with Barbara and Radim (a woman and a man, respectively). The resulting images respond in a light-hearted yet poignant way to expectations of gender within their cultural milieu.
The works fluctuate between media: photography, collage, or painting. Simultaneously the human, artificial, abstraction, and representation merge - challenging conventional imagistic boundaries.
These works are the reflections of Alex, a third-gender individual, in collaboration with Barbara and Radim (a woman and a man, respectively). The resulting images respond in a light-hearted yet poignant way to expectations of gender within their cultural milieu.
The works fluctuate between media: photography, collage, or painting. Simultaneously the human, artificial, abstraction, and representation merge - challenging conventional imagistic boundaries.
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INSTALLATION VIEWS
Interview with Alex Neumann
Tell us about yourself: your background, where you’re from, how you began practicing art, and some professional background.
We met in a graphic studio in Prague, where we immediately understood to each other through our photography practice. Subsequently, we both applied to the department of Creative Photography at the Opava University of Philosophy (Czech Republic). After we were accepted, we began working collaboratively as Barbara and Radim Zurek. Our daughter was born soon before our first year at the university; in a way, she studied together with us from the very beginning and basically completed full teaching as well as practical tasks with us.
How did the Alex Neumann project begin? Who is Alex Neumann?
We first became interested in the topic of personal identity in school, and it is something we continue to explore today. Our latest photography project is about the assimilation of a Czech family in Germany. We decided to change our own identity and thus became the subjects of our own experiment, which includes changing our last name to Neumann. This is how the name of our three-member artist collective “Alex Neumann” came about. The group consists exclusively of members of our family. The first name Alex was chosen because it can be gender neutral.
Conceptually, which principles or theory guides your work most often?
We experiment a lot. New series are not created according to a predetermined plan. We have a lot of ideas and we try to find a way to process them. Sometimes it takes many months, but sometimes the right direction is obvious: the work grows within, and out of our hearts during the process.
Who are some people that influence your practice? You can include some sources from within the art world, as well as outside.
We are mainly inspired by exhibitions we visit, where we have a chance to consider a number of works by any particular artist. We often argue about our feelings and opinions on individual works. The most recent exhibition that greatly interested us was called “Link in Bio” in the Museum in Leipzig (Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig).
I see some post-human aesthetics present in your work. Is that theory something you think about in your work?
Sometimes we talk about it. The role of the human in a technological world has changed drastically in recent times, and the pace of change will only continue to accelerate. As artists we respond to these changes. It is a very interesting topic in which the theme of personal identity plays an important role. You could say that we inevitably came upon the topic of the Posthuman as it relates to personal identity.
What can you share about your artistic process?
We keep how we work to ourselves as much as possible. Even our professors at the university, gallerists, or curators with whom we have collaborate don't know much about our process. We value our privacy greatly and avoid the personal openness of our times.
How would you categorize your work: Photography? Painting? Collage? Or is it something in between?
We are photographers who are trying to break free from the traditional borders of photography. In the last two years, we’ve created digital collages that contain elements of paintings and 3D rendered objects (which we also created). We create also videos as a part of the project. The real challenge is to keep the line of the project consistent when there are three individuals who use several different software and techniques.
How does the use of digital technologies for the production and dissemination of your wok inform their reading?
The assimilation experiment which we previously mentioned takes most of our time as of recently. We have been living in Dresden for seven years, and it feels like we are just now starting to wake up and be a little more active. We had to turn down some exhibition opportunities and focus on integrating into German society. However, virtual exhibitions are a welcome alternative for us: we think that there is a lot of potential for them. With future technological advancements, they will develop their own format, which can be enhanced with tools such as virtual reality. Reputable institutions will probably not oppose that. At the same time, we hope that exhibitions will not disappear in the physical world.
We met in a graphic studio in Prague, where we immediately understood to each other through our photography practice. Subsequently, we both applied to the department of Creative Photography at the Opava University of Philosophy (Czech Republic). After we were accepted, we began working collaboratively as Barbara and Radim Zurek. Our daughter was born soon before our first year at the university; in a way, she studied together with us from the very beginning and basically completed full teaching as well as practical tasks with us.
How did the Alex Neumann project begin? Who is Alex Neumann?
We first became interested in the topic of personal identity in school, and it is something we continue to explore today. Our latest photography project is about the assimilation of a Czech family in Germany. We decided to change our own identity and thus became the subjects of our own experiment, which includes changing our last name to Neumann. This is how the name of our three-member artist collective “Alex Neumann” came about. The group consists exclusively of members of our family. The first name Alex was chosen because it can be gender neutral.
Conceptually, which principles or theory guides your work most often?
We experiment a lot. New series are not created according to a predetermined plan. We have a lot of ideas and we try to find a way to process them. Sometimes it takes many months, but sometimes the right direction is obvious: the work grows within, and out of our hearts during the process.
Who are some people that influence your practice? You can include some sources from within the art world, as well as outside.
We are mainly inspired by exhibitions we visit, where we have a chance to consider a number of works by any particular artist. We often argue about our feelings and opinions on individual works. The most recent exhibition that greatly interested us was called “Link in Bio” in the Museum in Leipzig (Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig).
I see some post-human aesthetics present in your work. Is that theory something you think about in your work?
Sometimes we talk about it. The role of the human in a technological world has changed drastically in recent times, and the pace of change will only continue to accelerate. As artists we respond to these changes. It is a very interesting topic in which the theme of personal identity plays an important role. You could say that we inevitably came upon the topic of the Posthuman as it relates to personal identity.
What can you share about your artistic process?
We keep how we work to ourselves as much as possible. Even our professors at the university, gallerists, or curators with whom we have collaborate don't know much about our process. We value our privacy greatly and avoid the personal openness of our times.
How would you categorize your work: Photography? Painting? Collage? Or is it something in between?
We are photographers who are trying to break free from the traditional borders of photography. In the last two years, we’ve created digital collages that contain elements of paintings and 3D rendered objects (which we also created). We create also videos as a part of the project. The real challenge is to keep the line of the project consistent when there are three individuals who use several different software and techniques.
How does the use of digital technologies for the production and dissemination of your wok inform their reading?
The assimilation experiment which we previously mentioned takes most of our time as of recently. We have been living in Dresden for seven years, and it feels like we are just now starting to wake up and be a little more active. We had to turn down some exhibition opportunities and focus on integrating into German society. However, virtual exhibitions are a welcome alternative for us: we think that there is a lot of potential for them. With future technological advancements, they will develop their own format, which can be enhanced with tools such as virtual reality. Reputable institutions will probably not oppose that. At the same time, we hope that exhibitions will not disappear in the physical world.