View from my kitchen window: Sky at sunrise in February, one of various variants of “Behind the Curtain.” A characteristic of these variants are the recurring electricity pylons (in varying numbers), which—like the trees, when visible—stand for life energy in a figurative sense.
Continuing the ‘view from the kitchen window’ theme—the time between 4 and 6 a.m. (either I wasn’t in bed by then or I was already up again) is the best time of day for me, with the exception of the winter months. In a gadda da vida” is said to have originally been ‘In the garden of Eden’. According to various rumors, the original title was changed to ‘in a gadda da vida’ under the influence of LSD or alcohol. Be that as it may, considering both versions of the title, it is the ideal one for this work and a symbol of a place worth living in: Bochum.
The photograph is of the early morning sky over Bochum, and the work is therefore part of the ‘Playing around with skies’ series. The SKY series explores the theme of “SKY” on three levels: visual, written, and sound.
[A] The combination of the background of the picture (the sky) and another visual object may evoke an (English) term that is ambiguous in German and thus “calls up a second theme”.
[B] In addition, this combination may result in a new subject or an invented word through an equally pronounced but differently spelled word combination, as well as through a differently pronounced but equally spelled word.
[C] Sometimes it is the title of the work that reveals the background and thematic association of the image.
[D] And in the one or other case it is just a modified photograph.