What if the orange tree falls apart

n my experience Oranienbaum fulfils all cliché impressions I had about a village in the former DDR- East Germany. Although it is officially a small town, I would still call it a village. It looks desolated; there are abandoned buildings and industrial areas, which are claimed by nature. The bins in the streets are mostly empty – no one to be seen who will be using them soon. You cannot escape from the impression that the youth is moved away, probably looking for better opportunities. However, you also get the feeling that there were al lot of expectations after the Wall fell in 1989 in Oranienbaum. The village has been looking for a new purpose of existence over the years, it seems that they haven't been able to find their balance during this transition phase. During my residency in Oranienbaum, I translated these impressions by bringing time, light, space and object together into a balancing act - fragile installations and eventually photographs. I searched for items/objects and spaces/locations that had daily functionality, now waiting for being used again. For this, I reorganised a selected location, in which I created a theatrical decor for the objects from Oranienbaum. Everything has been staged and controlled to every detail: space, composition of objects, as well the light incidence. The result is both a literal and figurative balance-act based on observation, control and a lots of patience.