Pink Nightingale by Isidora Krstić

A pink nightingale does not exist. It is a figment of my and maybe now, your imagination. To conjure this creature represents the ultimate ability to move or create definitions and open spaces for thought, if we so wish. But don’t let this sweet singing bird fool you. It sings of trauma. It sings of the traces and artefacts that memories leave behind in our bodies.

The work Pink Nightingale opens up a space for exploration and contemplation. The installation consists of elements dubbed ‘corporal artefacts’ that represent past memories and ‘old’ emotions, which are often very abstract. In this space, all of these topics can be freely contemplated and worked through. Every object is thus a symbolic extraction of one such (emotional) memory that is, perhaps in a ritualistic way, placed outside of the body.

The word ‘trauma’ is in fact very similar to the German word for dream - ‘Traum’. However, its etymology is traced to the Greek language, where it means ‘wound’. When thinking about trauma, we think about a memory, and maybe along these lines, a ‘wounded dream’. We think about recurring memories, dreams, auditory and visual ghosts, and we think of wounds that are difficult to close.

Next to the objects, a pink light pulses from the LED screen, emanating the pulsing of our neurological system. A looping sound piece consisting of distorted WhatsApp messages, songs, an irregular heartbeat and unidentifiable auditory snippets, is at the same time meditative and slightly irritating, reminding one of the state just before sleep, where the senses are heightened and fragments of future dreams find their way, if only for a moment, to the consciousness. 

2.8.2019  7pm

12-14 contemporary gallery