THE ARTIST

© 2021 Jannis Chavakis

Staying aligned while being violently distracted

Artist Statement

"Broken branches, living plants, preserved animal carcasses, discarded or pre-owned consumer goods, repair patches on subway seats, and my body in the movement are my materials of choice to visualize my research about the balance of forces. Those objects become part of paintings, drawings, photography, video, text or performances, and I combine them into installations."

– Veronika Dräxler
© 2021 Jannis Chavakis

Escape the attention economy's demands

My motivation tracks back to my teenage years where I experienced brain injury, forcing me to recover from not holding my attention and accessing my memory under pressure. As I once lost those abilities, being able to focus is a precious value to me. In addition, I understand what it means to have no visual signs of trauma but being influenced and limited by it. Still, I have learned to bypass its triggers with specific rituals to ground myself and refocus when pressure overwhelms me.

© 2021 Jannis Chavakis

Practice rituals to ground and refocus

I define trauma as collateral damage that occurs when two forces cannot align and hit each other: For example, in the form of a traffic accident or when a conflict of interest emerges – may it be between business, politics and nature. To me, a broken branch symbolizes the consequence of visible collateral damage, while embedding it into a new fitting context is part of the healing. I thrive on discovering as many moments when materials as a container of energy find a new place of balance after a collision that left chaos.

Discover new balance

Consequently, I feel drawn to ambivalent situations as a source of inspiration. My workplace is in-between: Being a mediator, a medium, a media artist. So I keep immersing myself into positions of imbalance and ambiguity to transition them into balance and disambiguation. Some of my strategies to balance forces into harmony are slowing my pace down through walks in nature, temporarily disconnecting from devices, and seeking shelter from urbanity in my forest studio.

© 2021 Jannis Chavakis
CV
Veronika Dräxler is a media and performance artist as well as an author.

She holds a diploma in Media Art of the Academy of Fine Arts Munich (2017) and is a debutante of the Bavarian Ministry of Research, Science and Art nominated by GEDOK Munich (2019) receiving her Meisterschüler in Art and Media of the Univeristy of Arts Berlin (2022).

Currently she is doing interdisciplinary research about processing patterns of generational trauma and how this shapes cultural landscapes.

Solo exhibitions:
“Traces of Life / How to Kill”, Kunstverein Grafschaft Bentheim (2022/23), “Beuys, Rückruf: Dringend!” (2021) galerie weisser elefant Berlin, “Post Everything Ritualism & Hypernaturality”, gallery GEDOKmuc in Munich (2019).

Her work has been shown, among others at a.topos, Venice (2022), at the Motorenhalle, Dresden (2019), at the Stellwerk, Kassel (2019), at the Museo Pumapungo Cuenca, Ecuador (2018) and at Manifesta 11, Zurich (2016).

For her blog “Selbstdarstellungssucht.de” she received the Award “Kultur- und Kreativpiloten Deutschland” (2015) by the federal government.
Solo Shows
December 2022 - January 2023
Traces of Life / How to Kill, Kunstverein Grafschaft Bentheim
May - July 2021
Beuys, Rückruf: Dringend!, Galerie Weißer Elefant, Bezirksamt Mitte Berlin
October 2019
Post-Everything Ritualism & Hypernaturality, Galerie GEDOKmuc, Munich
Group Shows
2023
Tacker, Galerie der Künstler, BBK München und Oberbayern, Munich
Beyond the Spectacle, Platform Munich
Chapters of Violence: Power & Control - mit Patrick Alan Banfield, galerie weisser elefant, Berlin
Let nothing disturb you, Saloon, Schwere Reiter Munich
2022
Vaster than empires and more slow, Halle50, Domagk Ateliers Munich
Retrotopia, a.topos, Venice (IT)
2021
Tacker, Galerie der Künstler, BBK München und Oberbayern, Munich
Appointment X, Galerie für zeitgenössische Kunst, Leipzig
30 Jahre Kulturwerkstatt Haus 10, FFB
2020
Balance Finden, Projektraum Uqbar, Berlin
2019
19th art exhibition of the city of Fürstenfeldbruck, Kunsthaus FFB
2018
And so the internet spoke, Kulturwerkstatt Haus 10, FFB
2017
Touch Totem, Akademie der Bildenden Künste München, Munich
Performances
2022
Branches/Geäst, Performance at Vaster than empires and more slow, Halle50, Domagk Ateliers Munich
2021
Medea, Performance at Beuys, Rückruf: Dringend!, Galerie Weißer Elefant, Bezirksamt Mitte, Berlin
2020
Branches/Geäst, Performance at Kunstverein Ebersberg, Munich
2019
Sagbar, Lecture Performance, Poetry & Performance. The Eastern European Perspective, Motorenhalle, Dresden
Renewing Self, Performance, Stellwerk, Kassel
2018
El Nudo, Performance, “César Davila Andrade: Maestro de la poésia”, Casa Museo Municipal Remigio Crespo Toral Cuenca and Casa de la Cultura Nucleo del Guayas, Guayaquil (EC)
The stage as an inorganic frame, Performance, Motorenhalle, Dresden
2016
The artist’s permanent self-doubts seeking for redemption with a therapist - online, of course, Performance, Cabaret Voltaire, Manifesta 11, Zurich (CH)
Awards
2022
Project Funding by the Gisela und Erwin-Steiner-Stiftung, Munich
2021
Scholarship Junge Kunst und neue Wege, Bavarian Ministry of Research, Science and Art, Munich
Neustart Kultur Modul A, BBK Bundesverband, Berlin
2020
Scholarship for the Summer School Maastricht - Tillburg, The Artist and the Othersand Platform Munich
2019
Debutant Sponsorship of the Bavarian Ministry of Research, Science and Art, Catalogue Funding, Bavarian public funding body (LFA Förderbank Bayern)
Kunstförderpreis of the city of Fürstenfeldbruck
2018
Project Funding for „And so the internet spoke: Thou shall make yourself an image“ by the foundation of the Sparkasse Fürstenfeldbruck
2015
Award “Kultur- und Kreativpiloten Deutschland 2015” for Selbstdarstellungssucht.de by the German Government
Fellowship of the Bavarian Ministry of Research, Science and Art for two research semesters at Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design

Talks

2023
Nature, ritual and the metaphysical presence of the body, Beyond the Spectacle, Platform Munich
Let nothing disturb you, Saloon, Schwere Reiter Munich
2022
Killing, Art and Hunt, Kunstverein Grafschaft Bentheim
2020
The Branch, Falling Walls, Science Week Berlin, Max-Delbrück-Centrum für Molekulare Medizin, Berlin
The Branch, Fail Institut, Leipzig
The Branch, Curious Minds, State Studio, Berlin
2018
De la adoración a la doración: Practicas artisticas contemporáneas a base del ritual, Museo Pumapungo, Cuenca (EC)
Publications
2019
Post-Everything Ritualism and Hypernaturality, catalogue magazine, Hammann von Mier, Munich
2016
About Nature, About Life, Monography with drawings and poems, 100for10, Munich
2007 - 2017
Selbstdarstellungssucht.de (Founder and Editor), blog about young art, culture and digital identity, Munich
IN THE PRESS

Monopol

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