schnittmenge. punctum.

In the set theory, the intersection A ∩ B of two sets A and B is the set that contains all elements of A that also belong to B (or equivalently, all elements of B that also belong to A), but no other elements. The intersection is a binary operation whose arity is two, and whose two domains and one codomain are (subsets of) the same set. Schnittmenge, German word for intersection, means literally the quantum of objects cropped together. Deriving from different sources they are not only congruent but shared, could even stand for the average. The work follows the idea of perception of belonging, affinity or extraneousness to nature, the Italian and the German one, which are not imposed by men like culture, mentality or urban landscape, but by climatical and geographical conditions. Flora and fauna can overlap, interchange, contrast, but finally they belong to the same idea of instinctive and inherent nature, following also Novalis’ romantic vision of nature as ‘Heimat’ - here and beyond the Alps. Single parts of photographs are extrapolated and reassembled, creating circular spotlights that include overlays but also exit the frame, representing the (non)punctum that encloses more detailed key elements, alternating larger views of German and Italian landscape with fractions. A kind of personal perimeter. These details enact a kind of punctum in Barthes' sense, but at the same time the torment of punctum, that is closely connected to time and therefore to death, is negated by the sum of several components from different, equivalent contexts that build up the image in junction, crossing and superimposition. schnittmenge. punctum. is dealing with the main themes of my interest: the characteristics and limits of photography as a space-time-tied medium and its layering, memory and nature.