Abglanz
Alina Maria Frieske
The project Abglanz investigates the value and accessibility of personal information online and studies how one is reflected and recognized through the screen. Its title alludes to a German expression, used to describe a ‘pale reflection’ or a ‘distant echo’. The images are composed of moments that other people uploaded as snapshots or self-portraits on social media. Alina assembles the material into a composition that is inspired by the history of portrait paintings. Contrary to the low resolution of the compressed smartphone pictures, their sheer quantity enables the notion of precision from a distance. In its detail, one finds traces of the source image shown in marks of flashlights or filters. With a focus on mirrors and reflective surfaces, it alludes to the discourse on transparency and makes the picture look at itself.
Alina Maria Frieske (b. 1994) studied Visual Communication in the Netherlands and finished her Master in Photography in 2019 at ECAL in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Her interest is focused on the assembled image and its classification. Thereby she works with collage techniques and illustration to explore the process between individual and collective viewpoints. The work reflects on visuals sourced online from social media accounts or search engine results. The artist collects the images based on commonality in depiction and repeating patterns in gesture and choice of surrounding. Through digital techniques and physical interventions, single fragments get extracted and multiplied into an overall picture. Thereby each element in the picture contains a collection of different moments in time.
Alina Maria Frieske was also nominated for Futures by Hyères Festival.