In the last years I have been writing on a literary project in the form of a novel called Sauerland. In the project a fictional landscape has expanded. At the same time, there is an actual region that bears this name, exists in real life and can be experienced physically. I have never visited this place that linguistically corresponds to my fictional landscape. With the IfCAR grant, I will now be traveling to the region located in the northwest of Germany.
On the one hand, I want to scan my text's involuntarily voluntary reference point and, in the process of being on site, to relate the two Sauerlands – the fictional and the physical – to each other, establish new connections and thus gain a greater understanding of my subject of investigation. On the other hand, the moment when the two Sauerlands intersect seems like an ideal framework to explore the central themes in my artistic practice more closely:
How does representing a place—through text, moving, or static images—shape subjective experiences of space and time?
What role does it play in terms of memory, imagination and the urgency of repeating certain moments and environments?
Rather than focusing on the differences and limitations of the various media I’m using, I am interested in the recurring motif of the landscape in my own practice, its “architectural” order that can characterize narrative structures, its allegorical potential and its necessity as a provider of an experience and reflection of space and time.
The IfCAR grant will be used for process-oriented field research whose desired outcome is not predefined. Rather, the grant allows me to explore my ever-recurring topic of the perception of time and space in a more associative way by means of media translation and being in motion. The media of text, photography and video should complement each other and at best raise characteristic questions. Subsequently, I want to process the material I have collected on my trip in my artistic practice and theoretically embed my findings in a larger context in order to create a basis for the development of a doctoral concept.
Place and dates: January/February 2025, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
Weblink: aglaiabraendli.com