Christian Danielewitz' artistic approach involves photography, installation and performance, and his journeys along geopolitical fault lines and into various zones of conflict, are often the point of departure. Above all he is preoccupied with the notion of translation as a fundamental, cognitive circumstance. His works explore the alterations of the perception, the semantic shifts and drifts, when language, images and objects are interpreted, copied or reproduced in different materials, and across different cultural contexts. The idea of the authentic, the original vs. the copy, is of central concern. A copy can be understood as a memory. Copying is a way of actualizing the past, bringing it into the present so that it becomes alive again. As an artist in residence at IFP, Christian Danielewitz will research on the so-called copycat architecture, that thrives in the Chinese urban areas. Throughout history, rising powers have referenced past empires to emulate their wealth; Rome was informed by Greek architecture, American and European architecture referenced Rome, and perhaps now China is looking to the West. A copy is often perceived as a lack of innovative skills. It is the opposite of genuine. But for Danielewitz the copy becomes more important than the original, when the narrative it belongs to is more important than the narrative of the original. Once a copy is incoporated into the system, it has the potential to start questioning everything. The residency is supported by The Danish Arts Foundation www.christiandanielewitz.dk
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