Ruth Hommelsheim photographed the dismantling of the Palace of the Republic in Berlin between 2006 and 2008. Now serving as raw material, the background in each image is painted over with white acrylic paint. In doing so, the artist continues with the method she first adopted in her last seriesVersammlungen, this time with a fresh subject. Whereas in Versammlungen (Assemblies) groups of people were stripped of their context, which was painted over, and left heavily accentuated, here Hommelsheim explores the changes that emerge when the surrounds of the building are levelled by painting them over, and the remains laid bare in the process. Although we can surmise the urban context, heightening the rawness and materiality of the dismantling process seems to distort this contextual relationship, conjuring up new associations and raising questions about things that matter to us.
