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NINA E. SCHÖNEFELD
(b. 1972 in Berlin, Germany. Lives and works in Berlin and Ibiza, Spain.)
Interdisciplinary video artist Nina E. Schönefeld studied at the University of Arts in Berlin (UDK) and at the Royal College of Art in London. In addition to her visual art practice, she is a lecturer in Fine Art at various private art colleges. Together with Marina Wilde she founded “Last Night In Berlin” a cultural platform documenting art openings in Berlin. She holds a Master of Arts and a PhD in Art Theory (Dr. Phil.). Schönefeld is half Polish and half German. Critiquing the contemporary social and political climate, the future scenarios in her art works are closely linked to current political, ecological and social issues in the world. Her sculptures and set designs for her video installations are composed of various light sources, sound systems, electronic machines, costumes, interiors and video projections. Through the use of these unusual mediums, objects and videos, Schönefeld questions the contemporary roles of artists, exploring the relationship between art, blockbuster movies and the present digital age. Her stories imagine a dystopian world where, due to drastic political and environmental shift, we need to fight for our democratic rights and survival.
Recent exhibitions include, in 2022: Video Installation @Habibi Kiosk, Münchner Kammerspiele / Art Speaks Out @COP27, EGYPT @Ikono TV / TRILOGY OF TOMORROW @Haus am Lützowplatz / Sirens are calling from the shadows @A:D:CURATORIAL Gallery / OH MY DATA @Diskurs Gallery Berlin / HAZE CITY @Artspring-Festival in Berlin / A portrait of Spirits @Berlin Bark Gallery. In 2021: Facing New Challenges: Cities @Heidelberger Kunstverein, Heidelberg, Germany / States Of Emergency @MOMENTUM, Kunstquartier Bethanien, Berlin / DECEMBER’S CHILDREN @Lage Egal, Berlin / Corona Culture @Alte Münze, Berlin / The Circle @CICA MUSEUM, Gyeonggi-Do, Korea / Gods & Monsters @Kunstverein Familie Montez, Frankfurt a.M., Germany / SWAB Barcelona Art Fair 2021 (Lage Egal), Barcelona, Spain / Seoul International ALT Cinema & Media Arts Festival (NeMaf), Seoul, Korea / HER Power @Art Life Foundation, Hong Kong, China / Embark @129 GALLERY (Western Comfort Boat), Berlin / Points of Resistance @Zionskirche (MOMENTUM / KleinerVonWiese Gallery), Berlin / SIGNALE @ARTSPRING-Festival in Berlin / Roppongi Art Night @Roppongi Art Festival, Tokyo, Japan.
In 2020: Facing New Challenges: Water @Heidelberger Kunstverein, Heidelberg, Germany / D1G1TAL S3CR3TS @Die Digitale, Weltkunstzimmer, Düsseldorf, Germany / At the Limit @Kunsthalle Bratislava Museum, Slovakia / Boxenstopp @KWADRAT Gallery, Berlin / Beyond Elysium @Kleiner Von Wiese Galerie, Berlin / Something True @Schau Fenster, Berlin / #Payetonconfinement @Galerie la Pierre Large, Strasbourg, France / COVIDecameron @ MOMENTUM / Kunstquartier Bethanien, Berlin / N.O R.O.C.2.3. @Contemplatio Art, Germany / L’Artiste Et Les Commissaires @Lage Egal, Berlin. In 2019: L.E.O.P.A.R.T. @Philipp Haverkampf Galerie, Berlin / Trilogy of Tomorrow @Galerie la Pierre Large, Strasbourg, France / Show Me Your Selfie @Aram Art Museum, Seoul, South Korea / Salon Hansa: InterINTIMES AutoPORTRAIT @Lachenmann Art Konstanz, Germany & Frankfurt/Main, Germany / SHOW ME YOUR SELFIE @DISKURS Gallery, Berlin / Topographies of The Stack @Alternative Culture Making Art Space, Shenzhen, China / Water(Proof) @Federation Square, Melbourne, VIC Australia / Zeit, sich zu berauschen @Salon Gallery, Berlin / +1 @Safe Gallery, Berlin / Water(proof) @ MOMENTUM / Kunstquartier Bethanien, Berlin / Anima Mundi Festival 2019 – Consciousness @Palazzo Ca’ Zanardi, Venice, Italy / Anima Mundi Arts Festival @THE ROOM Contemporary Art Space, Venice, Italy / Il est temps de s’enivrer @Bamhaus Luxembourg, Luxembourg / Kommunizierende Röhren 2 @Salon Rene Holm, Berlin / Mitte Media Festival 2019, Berlin / Light Year 48: Digital Fairy Tales: Vengeance is Mine @Manhattan Bridge / The Leo Kuelbs Collection, New York, U.S. / Digital Fairy Tales: Vengeance is Mine @Made In NY Media Center by IFP, New York City, U.S. / ? Art Is My Revenge @Lage Egal, Berlin / Villa Heike & Other Stories @Villa Heike, Berlin / #Notsoawhitecube @Lage Egal, Berlin. And many more.
B.T.R. (BORN TO RUN) (2020)
HD Video with sound 20’3”
Video and installation artist Nina E. Schönefeld critiques the contemporary social and political climate, exploring the relationship between art, popular culture and mass media in the present digital age. Her stories imagine a near future of all too possible dystopias where, due to drastic political shift, we need to fight for our basic democratic rights. B.T.R. is set in the year 2043 in a dystopian future of authoritarian autocracies and restrictions on journalism, where data is the most valuable asset on earth, and authoritarian right-wing governments have implemented youth education camps to gain power and influence. The film’s hero, SKY, grew up in one such education camp, WHITE ROCK. Knowing nothing about her parents she begins to research her heritage, getting in touch with a group of independent journalists and publishers, the most persecuted people on earth, threatened by prison and death every day. In this allegory of a not far-distant future, it seems that freedom of speech is lost forever. The video B.T.R. is intended as a preventative measure against such dystopias. It was created as a film of the future but has its roots in the present. It is based on detailed research on Julian Assange and Edward Snowden; on Cambridge Analytica and the pervasive power of data mining; on the crucial role of investigative journalism and the need for freedoms of the press; on the stories of deserters from the far-right.; and on the growing strength of far-right movements around the world, which leads Schönefeld to draw frightening parallels with conditions which led to the rise of Fascism in Germany in the 1920s.
ARTIST STATEMENT:
“The movie B. T. R. (Born To Run) is set in the year 2043 and deals with the subject of authoritarian autocracies and the complete restriction of journalists. It also deals with the possible extradition of Julian Assange to the US and what it could mean for the situation of independent publicists, whistleblowers, and journalists worldwide in the future. In the year 2043 data is the most valuable asset on earth because data is being used to win elections. Authoritarian rightwing governments have the majority worldwide. They have implemented education camps for the youth to gain more power and influence. Movie heroine S.K.Y. grew up in one of those education camps called WHITE ROCK. She doesn’t know anything about her parents. She starts to research about her heritage. During this process, she gets in touch with a group of independent journalists and publishers. They are the most persecuted people on earth which means that they are threatened by prison and death every day. It seems that freedom of speech is lost – forever…
The video B. T. R. was created as a science fiction story but it has its roots in the present time. It shows a future scenario of what could happen when people do not follow political decisions made in their countries and when they do not start to question undemocratic movements. Democracy can be easily lost if the freedom of press as fourth power in a country is restricted. Quotes from the movie like “Think of the press as a great keyboard on which the government can play” are taken from leaders of Third Reich – in this case from Joseph Goebbels. But you can find these kinds of statements also in today’s speeches of rightwing parties everywhere in the world. Today rightwing parties in Europe are on the rise (Poland, Hungary, Italy, France, Belgium, Germany, etc.), journalists and publishers are put in jail like in Turkey. The parallels between our times in a lot of European countries (especially in Germany) and past times in the 1920ies in Germany are scary. (see here). The story of the movie B. T. R. is based on several documentaries (see below). The quoted documentaries deal with Third Reich, Weimar Republic, with strategies of rightwing parties in today’s Europe, with deserters of the rightwing scene like Franziska Schreiber and Heidi Benneckenstein. They also deal with practices of “hunting down” independent journalists, whistleblowers, and publishers like Julian Assange, Edward Snowden & Chelsea Manning.
Andrea Röpke – a German journalist who has published information about the rightwing scene in Germany for decades – was one of the biggest inspirations for the movie. She will never give up filming, researching & publishing even if she is facing violent attacks. Cambridge Analytica’s greatest hack – a Netflix documentary – deals with the dangers of influencing elections by influencing people through data in social networks. In the story of B. T. R. companies similar to Cambridge Analytica are integral part of how parties win elections, the system has been built on lies.
The film basically develops a future scenario in which authoritarian rightwing parties all over the world have taken over power. A free press (according to AFD “press of lies”) has been abolished. In the year 2043 it is no longer possible to express one’s opinion. Independent journalists and publicists are not allowed to report about reality. Rightwing governments have implemented education camps for the youth to gain more power.
The role of heroine S.K.Y. is inspired by deserter Heidi Benneckenstein. She grew up in a far rightwing family in Germany and had to visit rightwing education camps every school holiday. In 2011 when she was 19 years old she decided to quit this surrounding which is supposed to be very dangerous. She said the initial moment in her life to desert family and friends was when she was pregnant herself. To be forced to put your own child in the same environment based on fear and hate was unbearable for her. She went through hell in her childhood. She was never allowed to question anything and to develop into an independent person with her own opinions. Today finally she is… risking her life every day.”
[Nina E. Schönefeld]
Watch here the Spotlight interview with Nina E. Schönefeld