DIE BALKONE
Berlin, Prenzlauer Berg windows
and balconies
Theo Eshetu
Beyond Compare, 2021
Theo Eshetu’s multilayered video based practice challenges humanism as a deep rooted colonial ideology dissecting various cultural representations it has generated and continues to generate. For Die Balkone 2, he creates a ‘no-comment’ powerful gesture by sharing with the public an exemplary research and working material; a layer many take for granted in Berlin as part of its cultural, touristic and imperial appeal. One of the public banners of Beyond Compare: Art from Africa in the Bode-Museum, a two year exhibition by Bode Museum that ended in 2019 will be relocated to the residential area of Prenzlauer Berg.
Theo Eshetu
was born in London and grew up in Addis Ababa, Dakar, and Belgrade, before settling in Rome. Eshetu explores perception, culture, and notions of the sacred through electronic time-based media and optical devices . He draws from anthropology, art history, scientific research, and world religions to explore clashes and harmonies of human subjectivity between cultures in the global context. Though essentially conceptual, Eshetu’s work is always grounded in compelling aesthetic components, often achieved through fractal repetition, such as through kaleidoscopic mirroring, multi-screen projections, or mosaic-like patterning of images. Several works concentrate on video’s formal components of time and light.