FLORIAN RAUTENBERG & CARINA CHOWANEK
As an artist duo we are dedicated to special places in our joint art projects. The characteristics of the space itself and its social environment are central to our artistic approach. Despite our different ways of working, we are united by a huge interest in multi-dimensional installation space and human interactive concepts.
We combine painting with various sculptural and digital media elements.
Accessibility and eye level are an important fact in our work. We do not exclude anyone and encourage everyone to discover the space from a self-chosen perspective. We tell stories visually: sometimes they are poetic, sometimes they are humorous and often they are subtly profound. This creates a direct dialogue between the viewer and his partly familiar but redesigned environment.
We are committed to an open approach to colours, objects and art forms, as well as an unbiased approach, which allows us to temporarily change the character of the space and give visitors the opportunity to be a part of this transformation.
PROJECT 'INYONAUTEN'
2024, Teehaus Große Wallanlagen – Hamburg, Planten un Blomen
2024, Teehaus, große Wallanlagen – Hamburg Planten&Blomen
Concept.
INYONAUTEN is dedicated to the combination of duality and the joy of discovery.
INYO stands for the Japanese concept of the interplay of opposing poles that together form a harmonious whole.
NAUTEN - similar to Astro, Taiko and Oceanauten - stands for a journey of exploration. This journey passes through a variety of thematic stations. From the historical and architectural aspects of the exhibition site to cultural exchange, artistic interpretation and playful approaches, there are many worlds to discover.
Space.
Originally built for the International Horticultural Exhibition in the 1960s, it has been used as a restaurant and has also been left empty and derelict. Following a recent major refurbishment, including the conservation of the building's outbuildings, it is now available as a venue for events.
SIGHTSEEING
Perspectives and dimensions are juxtaposed. The snow monkey looks out over a miniature world that stretches before him like a park. Where is this faraway world, when was it created and where will it develop? This is the beginning of a journey of discovery, from the small to the large and everything in between.
STORIES BEHIND
There are characters around every corner. And they all start out small. But even in global fantasy worlds, they grow up and expand their abilities, step by step, until they become superhuman. And on they go.
WISH RUSTLE
The wind hisses through the leaves and the seasons pass with poetry. A mysterious new beginning emerges from the old, fragments of parts, numbers and elements. And what does the dragon say?
THE LAST RIVER OF WISDOM
Data flows wildly, science creates information and bytes gush forth. Morla appears again and again before the great void, for the great questions of true wisdom. Where is the solution? No one knows for sure.
TO THE STRANGE TEA
Come in... the inn is open. Today's specials are the Flower Park Sundae, a hot tea with lemon and 'Nix-Mix without anything' for the little ones. There's room for every idea, no matter how crazy.
WILD TIMES
Left, right, diagonal. All together. In the urban jungle, perfectly timed social interaction works like clockwork, turning an intersection into a ballet performance. Diagonal crossing, spatial folding, conurbation.
FROM THE GROUND UP
Invasion of opposites. The light flows in all directions, but the water seems so deep and peaceful. As the top plunges to the bottom, the horizon is stretched to the limit and everything in between finds its place. Sometimes below, sometimes above, here the circle closes to form a great whole.
PROJECT 'WALDINSELBAUTEN'
2023, Villa Mutzenbecher – Hamburg Niendorf
2023, Villa Mutzenbecher – Hamburg Niendorf
Concept.
As part of an overall artistic concept, we explored the questions of interior and exterior space that arise in this location, as well as the relationship between nature and civilisation. Our aim was to create a multi-part spatial installation that incorporates the surroundings, blends in with the environment and tells stories. Through a playful approach with colours, shapes and objects, and through interaction with the many visitors, the house was revitalised.
Space.
Villa Mutzenbecher is characterised by its more than one hundred years of history, its changes and its idiosyncratic character. Situated in the middle of a forest in the metropolis of Hamburg, it was once a retreat with a clearing and a rose garden. Having survived a long social slumber, it is now a house with more self-confidence following its renovation and increasing cultural use.
AN OUTSIDE TO THE INSIDE - A GARDEN TO THE ROSES
The next room is a contrast of white and red. The rose garden that once adorned the villa seems to grow into the house. Thorny undergrowth spreads wildly. As if frozen in time, we find ourselves in the midst of a Sleeping Beauty's slumber. What remains is a feeling of ambivalence between beauty and decay.
DARK DACHS FRIENDZONE
Shrunk to the size of a centimetre, we feel as if we have suddenly found ourselves in a walk-in, subterranean system of passages where the badger, the architect of the cave system, and his lodger, the fox, meet in the confines of the room. They seem to be facing each other in a corridor. Sitting on the stool, we perceive light from outside, the humming and smacking of the floor and all sorts of abstract crawling creatures. It's almost like the old days, when dozens of people shared a roof here in the forest.
FEISTY, VOLATILE, FOREST
A series of black objects on the ground, concentrated like pieces of charred wood in bizarre formations around an old wood-burning stove. The question of movement remains unanswered. Are they fleeing the fire like a herd of animals, or are they being sucked in and devoured? In the painting on the opposite wall, in a sweetly romantic setting, the forest and its inhabitants wonder who is watching over whom and what. Almost as an aside, the painting on the right side of the room shows natural territorial behaviour and playful battles between the headwoods.
