analogue photography printed on PVC (151×226 cm), metal basin, liquid, sound (in cooperation with Bastian Lehner), 2022
Die Nacht schweigt still was realised as part of the CONSTANZE exhibition project at Herbert-Bayer-Platz, Linz.
CONSTANZE: two sea freight containers are transformed into a temporary art space in public space. (constanze.org)
The work Die Nacht schweigt still (The night is silent) thematises the illegal and highly questionable removal of bilge water from cargo ships into the oceans. Bilgewater is caused by the ingress of salt water and leaks of cooling water, fuel oil and lubricating oil, but also by the dewatering of settling and sludge tanks, various cleaning processes and soot and dirt particles. According to anonymous reports, an intensive, necessary treatment process is usually bypassed and the extremely environmentally harmful mixture is discharged directly into the sea at night.
In the work Die Nacht schweigt still, the water surface of the Bay of Gdansk appears in abstracted form and meets trays filled with black liquid. The harbour of Gdansk is one of the largest container terminals in Europe. This time, the problematic flowed into the interior of a freight container.
The sound was created using synthesizers, samplers and analogue cassette material, creating a dystopian underwater atmosphere.
Daniela Gutmann 