Silbersee / The Silver Lake

A rumour of silver and toxicity haunts this investigation of a chemically contaminated East German reservoir nicknamed Silbersee (Silver Lake), near the Wolfen film factory. For years, photographic waste was discharged into the lake - so much so that one could develop photographs directly in its waters. In this project we use photography, video and graphite drawing. The interplay of these mediums raise  thoughts about the properties of photography, such as the moment a picture is taken in relation to the time it  takes to draw, the mechanical versus the handmade, the unpredictability of the aged photographic material in relation to conscious decisions in drawing, the precision in factory production versus the unpredictability and  consequences of emissions in the area.‍


Distributed by Filmform, The Swedish Art Film and Video archive, Excerpt