NINA E. SCHÖNEFELD
Nina E. Schönefeld (b. 1972 in Berlin) is a multidisciplinary artist based in Berlin. She studied Fine Art in Berlin (UdK) and in London (Royal College of Art). She holds a Master of Arts and a PhD in Art History. Together with Marina Wilde she founded “Last Night In Berlin” a cultural project/blog that documents art openings in Berlin. Schönefeld’s art examines the contemporary social and political climate. Through unusual mediums, objects and videos, the artist questions the contemporary roles of artists, exploring the relationship between art, blockbuster movies and the present digital age. Her stories imagine a dystopian world where, due to drastic political and environmental shift, we need to fight for our democratic rights and survival.
Selected recent exhibitions include: ‘Some Demonstrations’, Manifesta / Manifestina, Zurich (2016); solo show at CoGalleries, Berlin (2016); solo show at Fahrbereitschaft, Berlin (2017); Diskurs Gallery, Berlin (2017); Palazzo Ca’ Zanardi, Venice (2018); Goethe Institute, Beijing (2018); BBA Gallery Award Exhibition, Berlin (2018); solo show at Berlinische Galerie, 12 x 12 IBB Video Space (2018); Villa Heike, Berlin (2019); Lage Egal Gallery, Berlin (2019); Mitte Media Festival, Berlin (2019); Made in NY Media Center by IFP, New York (2019); Bamhaus in Luxembourg (2019); Aram Art Museum, Korea (2019).
N. O. R. O. C. 2. 3. (2020)
HD Video, 8 min 3 sec
On loan for COVIDecameron, courtesy of the artist.
N. O. R. O. C. 2. 3. (2020) is a video project that is a direct reaction to the situation we are facing in times of coronavirus COVID-19. The story of N. O. R. O. C. 2. 3. is set in the year 2023 nevertheless has its roots in current world developments. Under the title N. O. R. O. C. 2. 3. life during a worldwide pandemic crisis is transported through gloomy dark images. It is about the feeling of constant insecurity and a panicky, invisible threat coming through the world wide web.
The video is based on portraits of four independent women and a large pool of research materials. Historical quotations, passages from novels, series and films, political speeches, stock footage, video portraits, and media reports from different periods of our history are put together in a kind of narrative video collage to create a “psycho-gram” of the time during a pandemic in the digital age.
This narrative is accompanied by intense scenes, all of which take place at night. In the center: four female protagonists roaming through empty cities whose silence conveys a deceptive feeling. Looking for a way out, knowing all the facts via the internet, they do not know what the next day will bring. The optimistic conclusion at the end: Out of stagnation grows something new.
“I’m not afraid because all this seems very unreal to me. Hold on! I’m scared because people die every day. Is it a game or a dream? It’s a test that we are being subjected to and that will end soon. Isn’t it? I ask myself what would be worse: that life goes on as before? Or, nothing is as it once was? The reality is too big, too enormous, too present. Reality eats us up from the inside.”
(N. O. R. O. C. 2. 3.)
And yet the only thing defining a worldwide crisis like this is “unreal” information coming from the world wide web combined with a massive loss of control. Having to know everything but being unable to do anything as a citizen is quite unique. Everyone is therefore in the middle of a huge psychological experiment.
Director of Photography
Valentin Giebel
Starring
Ana Dossantos
Chantal Hountondji
Nasra Mohamad Mut
Keschia Zimbinga
Selected Songs & Sounds
Johann Sebastian Bach: “The Toccata and Fugue in D minor”
C. C. Scene Dark Background Music
Hospital Background Intensive Care Sounds
The Hot Zone Trailer (sounds & voices)
Quotes & Inspirations
Arno Deister im Interview: “Wir alle sind in einem riesigen psychologischen Experiment”, Tagesspiegel
Leïla Slimani: “Ich habe keine Angst, weil mir all das sehr unwirklich erscheint”, FAZ
Sheri Fink: ‘Code Blue’: A Brooklyn I.C.U. Fights for Each Life in a Coronavirus Surge, New York Times
“Wenn’s hart auf hart kommt, gehört man halt doch nicht dazu”, ZEIT Online
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). “Sweating-Sickness”. Encyclopædia Britannica
La Zone Official Trailer
Other Places: Pathos-II (SOMA)
Pandemics Official Trailer
Walking at night in Aokigahara forest
The Hot Zone Official Trailer
Ghost Recon Wildlands
Virus Official Trailer
Lucie Schönefeld: “Thoughts of a Teenager”
Christian Drosten: “Das Coronavirus”, NDR Podcast