Simon Lehner

The mind is a voice, the voice is blind

2019/2020

Simon Lehner

The mind is a voice, the voice is blind

„The mind is a voice, the voice is blind“ examines the cognitive dialogue between memories and the conscious. Coming from experiences of emotional and domestic violence the series studies how we process experi-ences through images as it touches themes of childhood, mental health and depicts my attempt to grasp the past through the medium. Through iterations of the photographic process the work attempts to make lived experiences of domestic violence and memory of trauma tangible as it reflects a search for language and establishes an emotional layer through the medium itself. The series follows four characters in different stages of life that function as a spatial journey, mapped in time and space, representing a maturation pro-cess and the development of identity. The recurring 3D animated image of a boy was generated through a method of reconstructing lens-based images of myself as a ten-year-old. These renderings reference patterns of being stuck in a traumatic stage through physical gestures and fundamental elements of image making. Image remnants from my generated childhood bedroom float around, as the simulated sun forms nostalgia. Contents of algorithm-based sculptures are distorted and only visible when looked at from a specific angle. All these elements spawn from the process of the confabulated memory of the software and reference perception and the unconscious distortions of our memories. Through the approach of incorporating the pre-existing personal archive it is a way of creating work from memory and forms to a photographic testing ground.

 

Diploma 2020
Ö1 Talent Grant 2020

next project:
Pavle Nikolić