This incompleteness is all we have.

— Charles Bukowski

[...] Responding to the industrial architecture of the Kokerei and an overwhelming urge to lament the monumental history of the area, I want to create a pantomime of sound, theatrical effects and visual image. I reject the concept of opera as the classical means by which to explore "tragedy", at least for now. I love the idea to provoke myself with the idea that the pantomime allows tears of laughter as well tears of regret; as I said to someone recently ... "we all cry. But whose tears are most bitter, or more salt, and whose are sweeter?" Quoting James Joyce's character in "A portrait of the artist as a young man" — "using for my defence the only arms I allow myself to use — silence, exile, and cunning." I'm trying to kidnap the character of Stephen Dedalus for myself but throwing open the question as to "who is in charge" — the viewer, the reader, the artist or the performer. Materials; Naked voice, cello, naked body, ropes, birds, smoke, mirrors, blinding light, dark darkness. In the pantomime style, nothing is what it seems to the performer but to the audience — it's clear ... It's behind you! Oh, no, it's not! Oh yes it is!

Trust me,

— Douglas Gordon

sqq. Silence, Exile, Deceit

If you have reasons to love someone, you don't love them.

— Slavoj Žižek

Ryoji Ikeda, test pattern [100 m version], Ruhrtriennale, 2013

Max Dudler | Folkwang Library | 2012

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And the rest is rust and stardust.

— Vladimir Nabokov

Diethard Wendtland, selbständiger Münzkaufmann.

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Tuesday: Nothing. Existed.

— Jean Paul Sartre

There are few images to be found. One has to dig for them like an archaeologist. One has to search through this ravaged landscape to find anything at all. I see so few people today who dare to address our lack of adequate images. We absolutely need images in tune with our civilization, images that resonate with what is deepest within us.

— Werner Herzog

Any landscape is a state of mind.

— Henri-Frederic Amiel

Reinhard Krause | Am Ruhrschnellweg | 1984

August 2, 1914: Germany has declared war on Russia. Went swimming in the afternoon.

— Friedrich Nietzsche

Spatial images [Raumbilder] are the dreams of society. Wherever the hieroglyphics of these images can be deciphered, one finds the basis of social reality.

— Siegfried Kracauer

Never try to convey your idea to the audience — it is a thankless and senseless task. Show them life, and they'll find within themselves the means to assess and appreciate it.

— Andrei Tarkovsky

The general population doesn't know what's happening, and it doesn't even know that it doesn't know.

— Noam Chomsky

Alweg Monorail

The best day of your life is the one on which you decide your life is your own. No apologies or excuses. No one to lean on, rely on, or blame. The gift is yours. It is an amazing journey, and you alone are responsible for the quality of it. This is the day your life really begins.

— Bob Moawad

Gropiusallee

Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem, first make sure that you are not, in fact, just surrounded by assholes.

— William Gibson

GDR Airforce

There is a difference between people who are smart and people who get good grades ...