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The artistic practice of Clemens Stumpf (1996) encompasses film, video art, and photography. His recent film projects investigate reality through a fictional lens and explore our relationship with death and mourning within the context of the ongoing climate crisis. Another one of Stumpf’s special interests is portrait photography, specifically focusing on eye contact with the spectator. What happens when a casual glance is immortalized through photography? And what happens when you look into the eyes of someone you have never met?
To a certain degree, the digital work Old Friends (2023), which Stumpf is presenting at Prospects, might be called a portrait series. Twenty archaeological skulls are staring back at the spectator through eyes generated by artificial intelligence. The fragmented, silent faces have thus been transformed into hybrid lifeforms. Printed on acrylic glass, the digital collages are the same size as a human skull, which makes the confrontation even more immediate.
The original photographs were taken from the book From Lucy to Language (1996), which traces the morphology of human beings from the earliest known skull to the origins of language. But rather than zooming in on scientific details, Stumpf’s focus lies on the emotional expressions of the skulls. The addition of artificial eyes is somewhat reminiscent of a cinematic special effect. Like the living dead, these skulls are balancing somewhere between life and death, the accessible and the unknowable. Despite the uncanny atmosphere, Stumpf is actually more interested in creating a friendly, familiar encounter; like recognizing yourself in the eyes of an old acquaintance.
Text: Esmee Postma
Translated from Dutch by Marie Louise Schoondergang (The Art of Translation)