Featured MFA: Wiebke Schroeder
Our next featured 1st year MFA is photographer and expended media artist: Wiebke Schroeder!
Wiebke (she/her) is a visual artist based in Nova Scotia with a main focus on photography, installation and expended media arts. Originally from Hamburg, Germany, she graduated 2020 from NSCAD with a BFA in photography. In her practice she utilizes her scientific background and different digital photographic techniques to explore and deconstruct the relations between nature, culture, social and political structures - mainly civilization. Following her interest in By-products, remainders and residue of human existence, one of her ongoing projects includes collecting, sorting and archiving plastic garbage, and the following photographic documentation and ‘visual reworking’ of the found objects. The results of her work are often aestheticized images and installations with an underlying message of critical awareness and ambiguous feelings reflecting discomfort with current conditions.
Check out more about Wiebke and her work on this blog or her website www.wschroeder.com or Instagram @vibeke_70
We visited Wiebke in her studio and asked her to tell us a bit about her studio work.
A big part of my studio practice is the work with my large collection of plastic garbage. By collecting, sorting, rearranging and photographing the collection under different aspects, I am looking for connections and get engaged with each of the objects. Through this work these objects regain value as a remainder of a time, a residue of a commodity, a memory or maybe an object of obsolescence or curiosity. Another part of my recent studio work and research is the use and exploration of Photogrammetry. With this technique I try to 3D-scan each of the objects of my collection, which requires at least 200 images per object. This use of technology confronts me with technological questions like - how does a machine see, Photography and the flood of imagery in the context of waste and the most interesting part, how does technology fail? - the fun stuff of glitch or disruptions.
Do you have a special object in your studio?
I keep two little tea-cups in my studio. My ‘oldest’ friend in Germany gave them to me as a farewell present, when I left Germany 6 years ago. And the collection of “toys” from my beach collection - especially Lego (the favourite of my husband), which reminds me of our several long beach walks and the treasure hunting with him.
