»Paradise Lost – The edition of wishes«

Amazon Rainforest, Brasil, Berlin, 2018-2020, 22:30 min, HD, stereo sound

At the core of all artistic work is the desire to experience, be excited, to discover and to share. This is why the LABVERDE program, with its international focus, invites artists to the Amazon region to engage in an in-depth exchange with scientists working in the fields of biology, ecology, and sociology, as well as with local people. Marte Kiessling received a scholarship in the year 2018 and conducted research on-site on the subject of “Paradise Lost”.

For Marte Kiessling, firsthand experience of the Brazilian rainforest prompted her to go far beyond specific ecological or social problems to explore a much more fundamental issue. “What does paradise mean to you?” she asked a broad range of people she met during her stay in the Amazon. The highly personal answers she received run the gamut from dismissing the concept of paradise as a means to manipulate the masses, to understanding paradise as a state of mind, to depicting spiritual images of nature and imagining social utopias, to a simple snapshot of a cherished act and the joy it brings. Kiessling overlays the interviews onto images of the Brazilian rainforest that range from sweeping vistas over water and dense forest to close-up shots of ants, creating a vivid overall picture. (Katharina Maria Raab)

For further information on the project and the exhibition, including videos: www.amadaverde.com