INTERVIEW WITH ULRIKE ROSENBACH

The artist Ulrike Rosenbach, born in Salzdetfurth in 1943, specializes in video installations and performances. From 1962 to 1969, she studied at the Düsseldorf Art Academy, including as a master student of Joseph Beuys. Her work can be characterized as process-oriented and cross-media. In early works, she broke with conventional patterns of perception through the use of live cameras in performances. In her works, she explores female identity, questions clichés, and investigates spiritual connections, which allows art to be understood as a healing ritual for restoring the connection between humans and nature.

In an interview with Hatje Cantz, Ulrike Rosenbach talks about her approach to Caspar David Friedrich and the insights gained from Friedrich's works for her own artistic endeavors.

Hatje Cantz: Have you experienced a very personal Friedrich moment in your life that you would like to tell us about?

Ulrike Rosenbach: The theme of nature holds significant importance in my work. In the early work Die Einsame Spaziergängerin (The Lonely Walker) from 1979, I accepted an invitation from director Zdenek Felix at the Museum Folkwang Essen to produce and show a performance installation based on a work of my interest. Caspar David Friedrich’s paintings impress with their intense aura of stillness, their contemplative mood. The concept of the action was to portray the impression just described using my media.

Ulrike Rosenbach: The Lonely Walker, 1979, Performance, Museum Folkwang Essen © Photo: Klaus vom Bruch/ VG Bildkunst

HC: Can you tell us which elements from Friedrich's work you have taken up in your own artworks and what role they play in your artistic practice?

UR: The moon arch that dominates the composition of the painting held my interest. It is a wonderful image of mystical nature painting. The intense atmosphere inspired my media performance with installation; the painting became the basis and the "action plan" for the sequence of movements in the performance.

Ulrike Rosenbach: The Lonely Walker, 1979/2009, Installation Photo, ZKM Karlsruhe © Photo: ZKM Karlsruhe/Tobias Wootoon/VG Bildkunst

HC: Why do you think Friedrich's work is relevant today?

UR: In my opinion, the significance of poetic contemplation in Caspar David Friedrich's works relevantly shows the connection between humans and nature. Nature today is not just an ecological and thus political problem, but humans and nature also have a fundamental spiritual connection - there must be a spiritual and soulful connection between us and nature, which connects both in lively interactivity.