Myriam Thyes
Work title: Sophie Taeuber-Arp’s Vanishing Lines, 2015, 10:10
In what is, prima facie, a mesh of abstract lines, no few of the works that Sophie Taeuber-Arp completed between 1940 and 1942 in her exile in southern France manifest a symbolism of war, persecution and flight. The compositions of lively, curved lines have, in part, something lost, floating, broken, irrational about them. Yet for all the horrifying events hinted at, these drawings are highly aesthetic entities. In Taeuber-Arp’s cycle of works entitled ‘Lignes…’, an aspect of DADA re-emerges – the (meaning-denying) art of refugees from war. The animation, which combines eight of her works from the ‘Lignes’ series with photographs from WW2, shows the connection and the discrepancy between Taeuber-Arp’s artistic activity and the world of war and persecution. To that extent, ‘Vanishing Lines’ also refers to her inner flight from reality. The video thereby highlights a dilemma facing artists to this day, of making art in a time of injustice and violence. There is good reason to animate Sophie Taeuber-Arp’s compositions, as she developed a striking number of variations out of the same basic elements for her series and because dance, movement and rhythm play an important role throughout her œuvre.
Myriam Thyes
Myriam Thyes is a new media artist from Switzerland, living in Germany.
1986-92 Academy of Fine Arts, Dusseldorf, Prof. Nan Hoover. Since 1994, Thyes participates in exhibitions and festivals internationally.
Fundings by: City of Dusseldorf, Swiss Federal Office of Culture, Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia, State of Luxembourg, State of Northrhein-Westfalia.
AIR: Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris (1990); Glasgow, UK (2008); Styria AIR, Graz, Austria (2015).
Awards: Depict Award 2005, Encounters Festival, Bristol, UK; MultiMedia Prize 2006, Avanca Festival, Portugal.
Publications: UmBildungen / ReVisions (2007); Glasgow Styles / Magnify Malta (2012), both Kehrer Verlag Heidelberg.
Artistic media: video art, animation, digital imagery. Realizes as well participatory media art projects.
Her interview on Shoah Film Collection Interview Project
http://sfcip.engad.org/?page_id=171