"N.N-Zwischenliegend" - a progressive investigation into errors/eine fortlaufende Untersuchung zu Fehlern by Erika Matsunami

„N.N-Zwischenliegend“: Ich forsche zum Thema "Paradoxität" in einer Kunst (Praxis und Theorie) von einer Dokumentation (Realität) – Zeit, Raum und Körper. Eine künstlerische empirische Forschung. Diese Kunst-Forschung ist die Fortsetzung von der Kunst-Forschung „still/silent“ (This artistic research is the continuation of the artistic research "still/silent" on the leitmotif of peace. (In art, there was and is the subject, but the most important is the leitmotif, whether it will appear in the work of art. Art critic, it will be written on those subjects, materials and their phenomenal events representationally, how it will be reflected generally. It is the same in the film.)). Erster Teil ist N.N-Zwischenliegend - a progressive investigation into errors/eine fortlaufende Untersuchung zu Fehlern (in der Bildwissenschaft und Ästhetik), diese Forschung geht es nicht um digitale photographische Technik, sondern um digitale photographische Technik und experimental Photography heute, und um (Neo-) Repräsentationstheorie (Multimodalität und experimental Dokumentation) : In the part of my artistic research in the N.N-Zwischenliegend project – namely digital photography – I am investigating the potentiality of inspiring errors and imperfection, employing three research methods. First, according to the definition, “errors” in this artistic research are not intentional, but rather are created in the concept by chance due to natural phenomena in the digital camera. In the concept of experimental documentary photography of N.N-Zwischenliegend, I did not try to photograph things (Dinge) and objects (Gegenstände) only, but rather I try to grasp temporal and spatial depth as well as the potentiality of the natural phenomenon. I have implemented this idea in an image with photographic techniques and double exposure, whereby these photographs were combined in the same documentary photo series. Second, I examine the photos for errors from the perspective of different disciplines such as photochemistry, physics, phenomenology, cognitive science, science of images, philosophy, and psychology to reflect whether there are flaws or gaps in the entire N.N-Zwischenliegend series. Third, in the N.N-Zwischenliegend project, I deal with the image as an error or gap with the philosophical reflection on the theme of “estrangement” from the photographic perspective as a narration. If the potential of the fault opened up to us, and if the error thus contributed to an “elasticity” of consciousness or the illusion of depth, I thus question the paradox of seeing in arts, which refers to the question: "Could the fault inspire us in this sense?" To answer this question, in this article, I connect to the evolution of consciousness from the perspective of psychology and neuroscience. “The AST (Attention Scheme Theory) covers a lot of ground, from simple nervous systems to simulations of self and others. It provides a general framework for understanding consciousness, its many adaptive uses, and its gradual and continuing evolution.”1 At the same time, it deals with the question of experimental or digital photography today, its perfection and errors in both the world of artistic photography and digital culture. 1: Graziano, Michael, A New Theory Explains How Consciousness Evolved - A neuroscientist on how we came to be aware of ourselves, The Atlantic, June 2016.

Introduction

Background of the project N.N-Zwischenliegend:

I came to Berlin for the first time in the summer of 1989. At that time, I was in Berlin-Kreuzberg (West Berlin) near the Wall (at the border to East Berlin) and at the west side of Oberbaum Bridge. After 1989 new forms of social order emerged and in 1990 came the reunification of Germany.

Twenty-five years later, in the summer of 2015, I started with the photo series N.N-Zwischenliegend and I photographed in the places where I had already been at that time – in Kreuzberg, i.e. on the “west side”, and in East Berlin, more precisely in Mitte and Friedrichshain.

After the end of the Cold War, a new era of democratization, globalization, and the rise of neoliberal capitalism began.

Twenty-five years later, I reflect on the ambivalence in contemporary society, such as the current crisis of financial capitalism or the demand for authoritarianism and protectionism in the global economy and politics, but also the looming ecological catastrophes. At the same time, the message of post-fact politics in naive realism is reinforced.

The photo series N.N-Zwischenliegend:

This photo series represents part of the spiritual (cognitive) stories in an experimental photographic documentation; the stories deal with the ambivalences in the city of Berlin, such as ambiguity, equivocation, diversity with/between light and shadow, hope and disappointment, peace and aggression, illusion (... and reality, in this case, where I stand and where you are standing).

I examine three topics:

1. Random deviation or random error / Zufällige Abweichung oder Zufallsfehler:

According to the definition, “errors” in this artistic research are not intentional, but errors arise in the concept by chance due to natural phenomena in the digital camera.

In doing so, I examine the mechanism of the digital SLR camera and the sensor to compare the recording method of the digital camera with the chemical phenomena of the analog photography theoretically and practically with same methods of analog photography.

2. Question of cognition / Fragestellung zur Erkenntnis:

I examine the photos for errors from the perspective of different disciplines such as photochemistry, physics, phenomenology, cognitive science, image science, philosophy, and psychology to reflect different aspects of the image. In doing so, I explore if it is a matter of error such as “unknown” information, how it will be impressed, interpreted, or associated in the whole series N.N-Zwischenliegend. If the potential of the fault would open up to us, and if the error would thus contribute to an “elasticity” of consciousness, then could the fault inspire us in this sense? To answer this question, in this article I connect to the evolution of consciousness from the point of view of psychology and neuroscience.

3. Photographic perspective as (a) narration / Fotografische Perspektive als Narration:

In the project N.N-Zwischenliegend I would like to use the image as an error to deal with the philosophical reflection on the subject of “estrangement” in the photographic perspective as a narration as well as with the alienation and self-alienation of the situation and the object. To do so I explore the images on the practical and theoretical level for the purpose of a threefold distinction, namely between image carrier, image object, and image subject.

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