Kirsten Kötter

These watercolours can appeal directly to people on an emotional and aesthetic level.

Diese Aquarelle können Menschen unmittelbar auf der emotionalen und ästhetischen Ebene ansprechen.

These watercolours are painted at special places in public. They are protocols. They translate the sensual perceptions into abstract pictures. These sensual perceptions are visual, acoustic and haptic. Figurative sketches are also created on site.

Diese Aquarelle sind an besonderen Orten in der Öffentlichkeit gemalt. Es sind Protokolle. Sie setzen die sinnlichen Wahrnehmungen in abstrakte Bilder um. Diese sinnlichen Wahrnehmungen sind visuell, akustisch und haptisch. Auch gegenständliche Skizzen entstehen vor Ort.

Sometimes I show in a moving image what happens to me when I paint , like in the project "Mushroom Net Neukölln" ...

Manchmal zeige ich, was mir beim Malen passiert, in einem bewegten Bild, so beim Projekt "Pilznetz Neukölln" ...

... and I tell you what happened and you hear the atmospheric sound.

... und ich erzähle, was passiert ist, und Du hörst den atmosphärischen Sound.

When taking minutes of lectures and discussions, I often use words that I integrate into the watercolours.

Beim Protokollieren von Vorträgen und Diskussionen verwende ich häufig Worte, die ich in die Aquarelle integriere.

In my work I combine two spheres that seem to be irreconcilable: art and politics, feeling and information.

Ich verbinde mit meinen Arbeiten zwei Sphären, die unvereinbar scheinen: Kunst und Politik, Gefühl und Information.

Documentary-artistic research of socio-political topics

As documents of my artistic research, I create watercolours, videos, photos, texts, interviews, sound files, which I later condense into a statement in videos and installations. I document the development of socio-political themes in everyday life, such as: Islam in Europe, global warming, digital transformation ...

My artistic work is also a contribution to civil society, because it promotes communication between groups. "Kirsten Kötter makes communication a component of her art. Her works show general social themes through the interplay of individual people." (Elvira Mann-Winter, Gallery Rother-Winter).

Meine künstlerische Arbeit ist auch ein zivilgesellschaftlicher Beitrag, weil sie Kommunikation zwischen Gruppen fördert. "Kirsten Kötter macht die Kommunikation zum Bestandteil ihrer Kunst. Ihre Arbeiten zeigen allgemeine gesellschaftliche Themen am Beispiel einzelner Menschen." (Elvira Mann-Winter, Galerie Rother-Winter).

Method "Site-specific artistic research"

I research on site. My working method combines journalistic, ethnological and artistic methods.

Method "Participant observation"

I expose myself to the same situation as the others. At the same time I document my observations. I use various documentary methods. In this way I penetrate deeper into the events.

Artistic work as documentary method – painting research as "door opener"

My public painting sets interaction in motion. Atmospheric sound, photos, video, interviews: If photography and filming is disturbing, I make sketches instead. Later, I digitally assemble my sketches in photos and videos of the empty rooms. I supplement videos with sound recordings and where possible with interviews, photographs and video sequences.

Project clothing

When researching on location, I often wear a piece of clothing that is labelled with information about place and time. Later on this piece of clothing becomes part of the installation and video.