no language

I have no language for my reality. book with concrete. Ines Seidel“This is it: I have no language for reality. … how could one prove who one is in reality? I can’t. Do I even know myself who I am? This is the frightening experience of this period of remand: I have no language for my reality.” A passage from Max Frisch’s novel “I am not Stiller” (in my own translation). I have replaced the preceding pages with a concrete block.
preparations: wire constructionconcrete formI have no language for my reality. detail. Ines Seidel






I have no language for my reality. book with concrete. Ines Seidel

Language is like cement, a story can be like concrete. Maybe that is so, because such a shape of story touches us deeply. It transmits an experience across the limits of the pronounceable.

weaving

three woven stories by Ines SeidelConverting stories and joining them to form new patterns has something conciliatory and healthful to it. The new stories that are created through weaving with wool acquire a warm and soft quality. They are not told for differentiation but make bonds.
woven story with feathers by Ines SeidelThe story with feathers talks about longing: longing to be free as a bird, being able to fly and leave the limits of a familiar horizon. I used strips from songs and from a book about the history of spaceflight in combination with the feathers and wool.
The woven story with twigs is all about growing and greening. Maybe it is just a story about spring. woven story with twigs by Ines SeidelIf you want to see more woven pieces, check out this woven selfie at flickr and a pattern from weaving plastic bags.

Out of the constitution

out of the constitution by Ines SeidelI have changed the constitution of the GDR. I cut out all the dead and abstract words. Only few words still had life inside, sometimes just one or two words per page would still speak. I gave them hold with a red thread.
out of the constitution by Ines Seidel
Now the text is in an almost transparent constitution, even the bondage of the thoughts within is exposed. The roots of the new text continue to be visible on the backside of the remaining words.
out of the constitution by Ines Seidel

Here is the poem of the amended constitution. Every line represents a page.
(rough translation).

/CHAPTER 1, Political Foundation/

in town and country clasped in the lower part
the freedom of another people
The natural resources, the mines, power stations, dams and large waters, the natural wealth of the continental shelf are fundamental
air of home
values as a matter of physical culture

/SECTION II, Citizens and Communities in the Society/

every [she] every [he]
man and woman
freed
secret
present invulnerability
the church of their mother tongue

/CHAPTER 3, The Unions and their Rights/

They take part in the revolution

/CHAPTERL 4, The Production Cooperatives and their Rights/

voluntary

/CHAPTER 1, The People’s Chamber/

actualizes evolution
for the duration of worry
fact of presence
on the 60th day on the 45th day on the 15th day

/CHAPTER 2, The State Council/

after the reelection
writes questions

/CHAPTER 3,The Council of Ministers/

It issues names
for collective cognition

/SECTION IV, Legality and Administration of Justice/

Life directly
independent – bound
being listened to
the decision to turn
The constitution changed
in power.

out of the constitution by Ines Seidel

Before I altered the complete constitution I had ripped out some pages and changed them separately. You can see them here and here. The words that I had cut out became the base of my suggestions for an organically shaped constitution, like the one below. suggestion for constitutional change by Ines Seidel

The astonished book

The astonished book - detail
The book
Got older
And into the cellar
Nine years of hope
Motionless, in yellow
End abruptly with a yearning
for simplification:
To rip out pages
Separately, in sections
Wordwise, folding the cocoon
Nine months or hours
Later, with the first sun ray
Opens slowly
The binding und releases
A tender and still unguarded
Little letter
o
The astonished book - Ines Seidel
The poem from March 2013 led to the astonished book which had a different name before its transformation.

New word hangings

word hanging "Loops" - Ines SeidelAt a hobby shop I discovered 25×25 cm pieces of wire mesh. They seemed perfect for stabilizing words on the loose! My first experiment was with text loops circling around the wire. It created an atmospheric 3D structure.
For my second experiment I wanted to sew the text to the wire. I cut Scandinavian troll tales into stripes, marked some with Indian ink and waxed them partially before stitching. The structure got more dense and ready to absorb some characters.
word hanging troll tales - Ines Seidel

More pictures (click to enlarge)

word hanging troll tales - detail

detail with faces

word hanging troll tales from the back

from the back

working on the word hanging troll tales

work in progress

word hanging Loops - detail

detail

two word hangings

two word hangings













My first word hangings are heroic legends, crocheted with wool. Have a look!