Eva Bachmann

Espacio Gallery: Time Warp - Distorted Memory

Eva Bachmann

The group show Time Warp showcases the work of eleven artists interpreting imaginative and metaphorical boundaries, concerning the twisting and distortion of time and space, using painting, photography, printing and ceramics.

Opening reception on
Thursday 15th November 6 – 10 pm
at the Espacio Gallery 
159 Bethnal Green Road, E2 7DG

The series Distorted Memory is an amalgam of specific London locations photographed 20 years apart. Just as memory appears to be experienced on an individual level, projecting a distorted reconstruction of the past, in this work my intent is to merge the past with the present, creating a fusion between the two. Instead of offering a straightforward representation, the resulting image is a construct of then and now, revealing and concealing layers of time with fragments referencing present structures.

Unsurprisingly, most of the buildings photographed 20 years ago, have long gone by now. They are replaced by new-builds or construction sites. The series is also a social commentary on the ruthless expansion of the property market, where according to a UK law, certain new-builds are exempt from paying the VAT making it financially more viable to demolish an old building and replace it with homogeneous, prefab apartments.

Historic England: Immortalise - Friction Match

Eva Bachmann

Historic England launched an open call competition as part of their ‘Immortalise Season’. The aim was “to encourage new thinking around the production, use and appearance of monuments and memorials in public life.”

Stamatis Zografos, Uli Gamper and Eva Bachmann worked on a collaborative project to commemorate John Walker, the inventor of the friction match. The installation was displayed with other 9 finalists at Historic England’s Immortalise Season.

written by Stamatis Zografos

written by Stamatis Zografos

The matchbox installation

The matchbox installation comprises an ephemeral and participatory method of commemoration that celebrates Walker and his invention truly, and places Stockton-on-Tees on the map. Considering that Walker’s identity is not certain and in order to commemorate the ambiguity behind his identity, an image of him is ‘invented’. This image is formed when matchboxes, operating like pixels, are placed the one next to the other in the right sequence. The image has layers thus depth. This relates to the three-dimensionality of memory, as memory is produced and preserved in space. The lower the layer is the more faded/distant the image/memory. The visitors are asked to take away a (free) matchbox thus de-assemble the image until it disappears. This is the end of the installation but not the end of Walker’s commemoration. His memory is spread out randomly in the city through the matchbox cover design.

Matchbox Installation. Image by Historic England

Matchbox Installation. Image by Historic England

The matchbox performance

A performative and participatory method of commemoration for John Walker and his invention was also introduced. Re-appropriating Hans Christian Andersen’s famous short story The Little Match Girl, our performer gave away (free) matchboxes to clueless passers-by until Walker’s image dissolves. The performer engaged with the public and informed them about Walker and his invention. The performance took place by the gate to Bow Quarter in Bow, London. This building was originally the Bryant and May match factory. It was also the site of the Match Girl’s Strike in 1888 led by Annie Besant. The edited film has neither a beginning nor an end, and it is on a constant loop. This circular narrative respects fire’s own development in time, from life to death to eternal return.

photographs taken during the performance

Afterthoughts

The ephemeral nature of John Walker’s commemoration relates to the quick burning of matches. The random matchbox distribution through performance and public participation reflects fire’s random proliferation in the urban landscape since the friction match was invented. The method of commemorating John Walker through the distribution of matchboxes is inspired by the subliminal power of matchbox cover design that was historically used as a tool for propaganda and communication (a tool widely used during the World Wars and in Communist countries).

Credits:
text: Stamatis Zografos
Raymond Peters (as John Walker)
performance by Barbara Gamper (www.barbaragamper.com)

Immortalised Logo RGB.jpg

Immortalised: the people loved, left and lost in our landscape

A free exhibition at the Workshop, Lambeth, London

30 August – 16 September 2018

For millennia, we have celebrated and mourned, marked and memorialised. Through our culture, places, stories and rituals we pass down what matters to us.

It is how we make people immortal.

But who decides who and how we remember?

Immortalised explores the ways people and events have been commemorated in England, by the statues, the plaques, shrines and murals that mark heroic, quirky, inspirational and challenging lives. But while some people are heralded, others are unrepresented: women, the working classes and people of colour are much less likely to have a place on the plinth.

An immersive exhibition, Immortalised invites you to enter four giant monuments that hold the key to our memorial past and future. From a Trafalgar Square lion to the Brighton Peace ‘Angel,’ to the boots on the contested statue of Edward Colson in Bristol, these will each explore how, why and who we remember, from the well-loved and famous, to the lost local hero.

Immortalised also reviews the challenging histories of some of those celebrated, and looks at how we might immortalise in the future, long after we are gone and perhaps, forgotten.

Open:

30 August until 16 September 2018
Wednesday to Sunday 10am to 5pm

Location:

The Workshop, 26 Lambeth High Street, Lambeth, London SE1 7AG

Bath Photography Festival: Delving Into Distant Memories

Eva Bachmann

Delving Into Distant Memories series questions the notion of displacement, our sense of belonging and the ambiguity of our past experience. I understand memory as an organic thought process, shifting and adapting to our formed world-view.

The title refers to my experience of the transitional state when waking, when a vivid dream feels credible, almost tangible. This unsettling feeling, leaves me pondering whether these imagined places were ever part of my real experience or whether they were merely a generic representation of our collective memory?

Photofusion: London Creative Network

Eva Bachmann

Reliefs 2017/18
scanned prints from 4x5 negatives

Being part of London Creative Network has enabled me to learn operating a large format camera, specifically for my work ‘Reliefs’, photographs of chimney breasts revealed on London's facades.
Rather than seeing them as a straight forward document of an architectural feature, I see them as sculptural reliefs.

At Photofusion I received a bespoke tuition tailored to my project. During the programme, I learnt how to use the camera and how to develop and scan the negatives. The final stage was about printing the 4x5 negatives.

Rushmure Rd E5 2017/18
scanned print from 4x5 negative

Mission Grove I E17 2017/18 scanned print from 4x5 negative

Mission Grove I E17 2017/18
scanned print from 4x5 negative

 Working with a large format camera helps me to slow down. It is an antidote to the current trend, where taking photos has become accessible to almost everyone.

I compare working with the large format to photographic mindfulness. It forces me to think, contemplate and focus, physically engage with the subject. It draws me in. I get absorbed, physically and emotionally invested in the process of making. It strengthens the conviction of my intention and the relevance of what I shoot. Each photograph takes about half an hour to set up, and it reinforces my commitment to the subject.

Although the method is laborious, costly and lengthy, ultimately it is highly rewarding: The charm of the alchemic printing process keeps me in suspense as the image resurfaces. It is impossible to reproduce the finely-grained film texture and all the details in a digital format.
London Creative Network

Galerie Sehnsucht: The Time Machine - Railway Arches

Eva Bachmann
Andre St, Railway Arches, 2014, 40x 60 cm, limited edition 1/7 giclee print 

Andre St, Railway Arches, 2014, 40x 60 cm, limited edition 1/7 giclee print 

Tucked away from the busy streets of Hackney (London), I stumbled upon Andre Street, a small passage lined with railway arches. The signage and the textured layers of overlapping paint reveal what is happening behind the closed doors when open for business - most of the arches are converted into car mechanic workshops. In their unpretentious appearance, they seem timeless, as if one entered a time warp of the unchanged neighbourhood.
With the series Railway Arches, I am investigating visual realms of accidental creativity done unintentionally. Devoid of people, these images serve as a testament to creative processes done by unsung workers.

Tudor Road: Open Studio - The Deception of Perception

Eva Bachmann

The Deception of Perception

At first sight, the image depicts the wall of a residential area. On closer inspection, it becomes apparent that it is a photograph of a collage, distorting the perception of depth. Some elements from the background come to the fore and the shadow transforms into a solid object.
These distortions emphasize my personal preferences for certain elements over others. The work aims to open a dialogue about degrees of subjectivity in the act of looking at, and perceiving, our environment.

The Deception of Perception B, 2017, Captured on digital, assembled to a collage, re-captured on digital, 35 x 40 cm, limited edition 1/7

 

The Deception of Perception A, 2017, Captured on digital, assembled to a collage, re-captured on digital, 35 x 40 cm, limited edition 1/7

London Independent Photography: 29th Annual Show - Composition IV

Eva Bachmann

Composition IV / Wall, 2017, giclee print, 20 x 30 cm

"The LIP Annual Exhibition, now in its 29th year, provides a platform for members to exhibit their best work to be shared with a wider public audience. This year our new submission process is designed to include more members than ever in the exhibition!

A series of talks and events will feature throughout the exhibition period, with leading figures from the photographic world including Dewi Lewis the celebrated photobook publisher; Simon Roberts, an outstanding landscape photographer with an emphasis on human geography; Tanya Houghton, presenting her project ‘A Migrant’s Tale’ - a collection of narrative explorations told through the language of food; a panel discussion on 'The Street Today', and more.

The exhibition and associated events will attract a huge audience and will be a great showcase for LIP members."
London Independent Photography

Photofusion: Salon 2016 - Delving Into Distant Memories

Eva Bachmann

Delving Into Distant Memories, 40 x 30 cm

Delving Into Distant Memories series questions the notion of displacement, our sense of belonging and the ambiguity of our past experiences. I understand memory as an organic thought process as it shifts and adapts to our formed worldview.

The title refers to my experience of the transitional state when waking, when a vivid dream feels credible, almost tangible. This unsettling feeling leaves me pondering whether these imagined places were ever part of my real experience or whether they were merely a generic representation of our collective memory. 
Photofusion Salon 2016

Cafe Royal Books: Repro Show

Eva Bachmann

image by Cafe Royal books

image by Cafe Royal books

Repro show includes many forms of artwork. Text-based, appropriated, drawing, notes, sculpture, documentation, print, publications, multiples, audio, public art…

Some of the work will have been used, published or shown before — some new, unseen or found. The context in this case is the autonomous image, and the collective processes of the project being developed, displayed, recorded and published. Any previous context, meaning or reason for the works included is irrelevant to this project.

All work selected for inclusion in the show is standardised by printing black on ISO-sized paper using a photocopier and being taped to the wall. 

The exhibition will be updated and added to throughout the show, up to December 15th. The project will be documented and displayed/archived online. 

The gallery will become an experimental space, presenting international works that would otherwise not be placed together.  Away from their original context, sequenced, and unified by a simple print process and display mechanism.

Repro Show at the Art Gallery, Hanover Building, UCLan, Lancashire

Mission Grove E17 Relief c-type print

Hoxton st N1, Absent Presence

Separation c-type print

London Independent Photography: 28th Annual Show - Window

Eva Bachmann

Window_2, ongoing series, 1/7, 27x27cm, box framed

I am displaying three photographs from an ongoing series Window – A Threshold Between the Inside and The Outside World. The images portray the window as a “visual confession of their inhabitants”, highlighting the spatial ambiguity between the external and internal space.
more info: www.londonphotography.org.uk

private view:
15th November 6.30 - 9.30 PM
exhibition continues:
Wed. 16th - Sun. 20th November

Espacio Gallery, Bethnal Green Road
London E2 7DG

Window_1, ongoing series, 1/7, 27x27cm, box framed

Window_6, ongoing series, 1/7, 27x27cm, box framed

Barbican Gallery: Strange & Familiar, Britain as Revealed by International Photographers - Winner of the ‘Weird & Wonderful’category: Wobbly Legs

Eva Bachmann

I am delighted about my image 'Wobbly Legs' being chosen by Martin Parr as a winner of the 'Weird & Wonderful' category in Time Out's photographic competition. It was launched in connection with the 'Strange & Familiar - Britain as Revealed by International Photographers' exhibition at the Barbican Gallery. 

I came across 'Wobbly Legs', a surreal-looking bench, next to a busy road on Morning Lane, Hackney. The rickety street furniture reminded me of someone after a night out, unsteady on their legs, twisting and shifting to try to keep their balance.
With my work I aim to alter our view of the ordinary by exemplifying its creative essence, adding a new visual experience, and shifting our awareness so that we notice what often goes unnoticed.

Uncertain States Annual 2015: Cosmic Dance

Eva Bachmann

private view: 04 November  6.30-8.30 PM
exhibition continues: 05 - 21 November 2015                                   

Cosmic Dance from River Lea series, Fuji Chrome aluminium mounted   60x40 cm, limited edition 1/7

Cosmic Dance is a poetic interpretation of the River Lea’s waste. These images of the contaminated River seem to mirror the otherworldly qualities of interstellar particles gracefully floating in the galactic void. My intent is to bewilder the viewer, engendering a sense of disbelief and hence unsettle our accepted sense of reality. With my work I aim to alter our view of the ordinary by emphasizing its creative essence, adding a new visual experience by shifting our awareness so that we look at what often goes unnoticed.
I was interested to present the series in a relevant context. Here, Mile End Pavilion’s location adjacent to Regents Canal lends itself as a highly appropriate venue for showcasing the dreamy qualities of urban nature.                                                              

"Uncertain States is an artist-led project that publishes and distributes a free quarterly broadsheet newspaper showing lens-based-art. We also hold monthly talks that focus on contemporary photography; we organise and curate an annual exhibition to showcase our contributor's work. Formed in 2009 by Fiona Yaron-Field, David George and Spencer Rowell, the group has grown over the past five years from a small core to a loose confederacy of over 100 writers, artists and academics who share the same ethos: that is, to create a platform for work that reflects some key social and political concerns and challenges how perceptions are formed in society, whilst at the same time nurture a growing community of independent artists who seek alternative outlets for their artistic practice."       
Uncertain States                                          

neo:artprize: Unfinished Business

Eva Bachmann

Palmerston Road, from the series Unfinished Business 2014
giclee print

"neo:artprize is an international biennial.                                             Achieving critical acclaim in its inaugural year and now in its third, the competition offers a prestigious showcase for contemporary visual artists working in any media alongside an impressive list of sponsored prizes and the opportunity to be considered for the 12-week neo:residency supported by University of Bolton, GreatArt and neo: An independent panel of prominent curators and artists juries the competition ensuring high standards are maintained."
neo:artists