Crossing Realities
Lucas Gehrmann
When Victoria Coeln projects specially wrought light-images for the creation of her Chromographies on the places, spaces, or sites chosen and visited by her, which are scarcely or not at all illuminated by sunlight or artificial light, she achieves, as she herself says, not really their illumination but rather their “exposure”. That is: Victoria Coeln’s specific art of illumination of her subjects is proceeded by the exposure of photographic film material — the intended chromographic image already exists for the duration of the projection in the real three-dimensional space …
Light is a thing
Andreas Spiegl
“The quality of light by which we scrutinize our lives has direct bearing upon the product which we live, and upon the changes which we hope to bring about through those lives. It is within this light that we form those ideas by which we pursue our magic and make it realized”. (Audre Lorde, Poetry is Not a Luxury, 1977*)
The experience that one can also see things differently, in a different manner than one is used to perceiving them – that one’s view of things can change, if one changes one’s perspective, if one observes them from a different viewpoint, at another period of time, from a distance of a couple of hours or years – sheds a critical light on the act of seeing: apparently, seeing is no guarantee that things are as one sees them. It is the act of seeing itself that allows the reality to appear in a particular light …
Light - Space - Explorations — Victoria Coelns project 30 Years Peaceful Revolution
Heike Sütter
Eine der Initialzündungen für die revolutionären Ereignisse, die vor dreißig Jahren die DDR zur Fall brachten, ging von Leipzig aus. Hier, in der traditionellen Messestadt, versammelte sich der Mut zuerst von wenigen, bald von sehr vielen. Hier verdichtete sich, was in den Folgemonaten eine Kette von Ereignissen nach sich ziehen sollte, die ihren gemeinsamen Höhepunkt in der Friedlichen Revolution fanden. Ihrem Gedenken, dem Herbst ‘89 und speziell dem 9. Oktober 1989, dem Tag der Entscheidung in Leipzig, ist das Lichtfest gewidmet. 2019 werden dreißig Jahre Friedliche Revolution gefeiert, und so möchte diese mutige, bunte und kreative Stadt mit dem Lichtfest Leipzig 2019 im Konzept von Victoria Coeln in vielerlei Hinsicht neue internationale Maßstäbe setzen, zeitlich, inhaltlich und gesellschaftspolitisch …
Where the light goes
Jörg Jacob
Light lines venture out in search of clues, they trace tracks. Colour fields and shadow surfaces build structures which make way for new interpretations against the backdrop of old images. Here, light is the intermediary that opens doors, rendering history visible and visceral because it’s not just that Victoria Coeln’s works enlist the presence of light made manifest, they are also informed by the metaphorical meaning of light. The way she superimposes new light structures and fragments on existing spatial constellations paves pathways for new perceptions of old familiar places. Victoria Coeln’s current work in Leipzig converges with the events of autumn, 1989. She treads gingerly around the objects of her study—exploring the urban landscape, its architecture and history before casting her hand on it with light and photography …