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Berlin Alexanderplatz Kaufhof Reverse
Photographic and film montage consisting of 4084 photographs
In Berlin Alexanderplatz Kaufhof Reverse, I reconstruct the view surrounding the Kaufhof department store (formerly the Centrum Warenhaus). Four facade panels, each 160 x 560 cm, have been assembled from 4,084 individual images, photographed from the inside looking out through the holes in the building’s “honeycomb” facade. The view of the building takes on a double meaning. Assembling the individual perspectives creates a view of the building, with its unmistakable honeycomb structure, as a negative form of the view from within. The viewer is presented with a perspective that seems to suggest that the architecture itself is looking out at its surroundings like a living thing.
In the film of the same name, Berlin Alexanderplatz Kaufhof Reverse, the views from this multifaceted architectural eye become a film sequence, set in motion at a rate of 24 frames per second. The result is a fictive tracking shot through the interstices of the facade, simulating a mechanical scan of the four views.
Photographic and film montage consisting of 4,084 small-format photographs, each taken through one of the holes in the “honeycomb” facade of the former Centrum Warenhaus, from the inside looking out. Reassembled into four facade panels, each 160 x 560 cm, and a 16-mm film, 2:43 min. + 7 frames, loop.
In the film of the same name, Berlin Alexanderplatz Kaufhof Reverse, the views from this multifaceted architectural eye become a film sequence, set in motion at a rate of 24 frames per second. The result is a fictive tracking shot through the interstices of the facade, simulating a mechanical scan of the four views.
Photographic and film montage consisting of 4,084 small-format photographs, each taken through one of the holes in the “honeycomb” facade of the former Centrum Warenhaus, from the inside looking out. Reassembled into four facade panels, each 160 x 560 cm, and a 16-mm film, 2:43 min. + 7 frames, loop.
Thats the way i like it
On April 30, 2005, the Kaufhof department store (formerly the Centrum Warenhaus) auctioned off part of its own facade on Berlin’s Alexanderplatz. The individual facade sections were presented in a stall on the square and sold by a professional auctioneer. Passersby showed little interest. Heike Klussmann joined the crowd and bid on the sections, thereby staging the actually occurring event.
2005 , thatsthewayilikeit , Kaufhof , Centrum Warenhaus , Alexanderplatz , Berlin , film , public auction
Digistrip
Alexanderplatz Berlin, Animation, 1:12 min
The former Centrum Warenhaus department store on Berlin’s Alexanderplatz, today the Galeria Kaufhof, was renovated in 2004–05, and in the process its distinctive aluminum “honeycomb” facade was removed. However, it was never possible to see the building naked: For one thing, the facade was covered in building wrap during disassembly, but more importantly, the construction process dictated that the old building be progressively replaced by the new one, piece by piece. As a result, the interface between old and new was never visible.
With the animation Digistrip, Heike Klussmann fulfilled her desire to see the Centrum Warenhaus naked, replacing the aluminum facade pixel by pixel. Each click becomes a still in the film. The facade is digitally dismantled, in a process determined by the capacities of digital tools. Animation created from 1,815 individual frames, 1:12 min. + 15 frames.
Digistrip is the animated complement to Realstrip.
With the animation Digistrip, Heike Klussmann fulfilled her desire to see the Centrum Warenhaus naked, replacing the aluminum facade pixel by pixel. Each click becomes a still in the film. The facade is digitally dismantled, in a process determined by the capacities of digital tools. Animation created from 1,815 individual frames, 1:12 min. + 15 frames.
Digistrip is the animated complement to Realstrip.
Realstrip
Alexanderplatz Berlin, Film, 11 hours 12 min
The former Centrum Warenhaus department store on Berlin’s Alexanderplatz, today the Galeria Kaufhof, was renovated in 2004–05, and in the process its distinctive aluminum “honeycomb” facade was removed. In the film Realstrip, we see one section of the facade being disassembled piece by piece. The film begins with the removal of the first piece of the facade from the upper left corner of the frame and ends with the last piece being carried out of the bottom right corner. DV, 11 hours 12 min.
Realstrip is the documentary complement to Digistrip.
Realstrip is the documentary complement to Digistrip.
2005 , Realstrip , Kaufhof , Alexanderplatz , Berlin , deconstruction , film , Digistrip , 11 h 12 min
Kaufhof off the Reel
Alexanderplatz Berlin Super 8 animation
The Super 8 animation Kaufhof off the Reel shows me in my studio, apparently building a structure with a watering can. This appearance, however, is revealed to be a process of deconstruction shown in reverse.
wk8p2 deconstruction
pincher
Demolition of a Type P2 slab building in Wohnkomplex 8 (Residential Complex 8), Hoyerswerda Neustadt. A camera mounted on the bucket of the excavator films the demolition, moving with the bucket. The bucket swings and gouges. In the film, the rubble seems to defy gravity as it falls out of the frame. The image dissolves in the dust of demolition; the projection goes white. A second camera, mounted in the cab, films the operator’s face as the building is torn down. This is the counterview to the first camera. The operator’s face reveals his intense concentration, each tiny move standing in contrast to the sweeping movements of the demolition. Video projection on two opposing screens.
wk8p2 deconstruction
driver
Deconstruction of a Type P2 slab building in Wohnkomplex 8 (Residential Complex 8), Hoyerswerda Neustadt. A camera mounted on the bucket of the excavator films the demolition, moving with the bucket. The bucket swings and gouges. In the film, the rubble seems to defy gravity as it falls out of the frame. The image dissolves in the dust of demolition; the projection goes white. A second camera, mounted in the cab, films the operator’s face as the building is torn down. This is the counterview to the first camera. The operator’s face reveals his intense concentration, each tiny move standing in contrast to the sweeping movements of the demolition. Video projection on two opposing screens.
Underground Bunker Alexanderplatz Berlin
5.975-frame animation, 3:59 min., loop
Heike Klussmann glides beneath the Alexanderplatz into one of Berlin’s biggest underground bunkers, built in 1941 out of a foundation block from the twenties. This subterranean structure beneath the Alexanderplatz is no longer accessible, serving now as a foundation for the Saturn building that stands above it on the Alexanderplatz. The film is, on one hand, a document of the subterranean structure, on the other a fiction of appropriation: Like an animal or the “Princess of Persia” from the video game, Heike Klussmann glides through a warren of rooms, coming increasingly to inhabit this underground parallel world, in which gravity seems to be suspended.
BURROW, underground bunker, Alexanderplatz Berlin, 5.975-frame animation, 3:59 min., loop
BURROW, underground bunker, Alexanderplatz Berlin, 5.975-frame animation, 3:59 min., loop
Unknown Object
From the Burrow series Underground Bunker Alexanderplatz Berlin
Heike Klussmann, Unknown Object, from the Burrow series, undergound bunker, Alexanderplatz Berlin, 12 photographs and film 1min 33sec