Christel

CHRISTEL
2006-2011

Photographs: self-portraits, laser prints, different dimensions.
Live performances and video documentation.

Christel is the story of the fictitious character Christel Rosenberg, the biography I assigned her and my obsession of re-living this life.

In 2006 I found a box of slides dating back to the 1960s. A young blonde woman dressed in pink dominates the scene.
The contrast between her generally bland appearance, insecurity, and reservation towards others, instantly making her the stereotypical wallflower, and her shiny pink 1960s-mini-skirt outfit, which inevitably attracts attention, intrigued me.
My initial desire was to dress up as this woman and pretend to be her.
Based on the impressions I perceived from the found images, I created the fictitious person Christel Rosenberg.
I practiced her behavior and manners for several months. First at home, taking self-portraits and eventually in public life, letting others film or photograph my performance. Not only to document but to help me improve my representation as Christel as well.

Eventually I became obsessed with the character of Christel and the idea of re-living the life she was leading in the 1960s. I wanted to share her emotions and experiences, feelings and fears.
In order to satisfy my needs I first had to assign and create Christel a life, a biography, that in turn I could re-live and re-experience.

Series of
self-portraits
2006/2007

Performances in Amsterdam, San Francisco, Munich, Cologne and Berlin.
2006-2011