KAMI

THE EMERGENCE OF MEDIA GODS

Uprisings, protest movements and revolutions have been around since time immemorial. One example is the July Revolution of 1830, but never before have protest movements attracted such media attention as they do today. How does this presence affect the judgment of our society?

Berlin artist Sven Sauer and Dresden artist Bony Stoev have been following the development of demonstrations around the world for ten years. In the "KAMI" series, they question the stability of perceptions colored by the media.

Hong Kong, Athens, Istanbul, Nantes, Cairo - when people take to the streets to protest, photographers stand invisibly in a small room between demonstrators and police officers. The photos that are taken there then spread all over the world. But what do we see in these photos?

The ever faster digital development of our world is creating a new form of "truth" that we as a society trust unconditionally.

Sven Sauer and Bony Stoev mistrust these images that we see around us every day. The real ones and the ones in our heads.

When a demonstrator takes to the streets, he wants to achieve a clear goal: to point out a grievance that needs to be remedied.

The photographer has a very specific goal: to distribute the photo. And the medium that prints the photo wants to increase its circulation. We readers see this image and project our own hopes onto a magazine cover. Three perspectives with different expectations In addition, a media icon was born - a hybrid creature that depicts the most diverse desires - just not reality," says Sven Sauer.

What role do these artificially created icons play in our culture?

With Kami, Sven Sauer and Bony Stoev question the side that the viewer takes:

"The Kami figures are ambiguous.

They are chimeras - consisting of demonstrators, media icons, gods and police officers. Depending on our own point of view, the aspect of the being we hope to see in them becomes more prominent. The Kamis become the beings we see in them," adds Sven Sauer.

Sound artist Bony Stoev created a room-filling sound installation especially for Dresden.

He takes up the theme of "irritant gas". His sound installation gives visitors the feeling that they are in the middle of a demonstration. The soundscape changes depending on the viewer's position.

In his installation, Bony Stoev transforms human "breathing" into a physically tangible sound.

Where does the name Kami come from?

The term ‘kami’ comes from Japanese and stands for revered spirits or gods. A direct translation into German is difficult. In their meaning, the ‘kami’ have typical characteristics of saints, such as infinity, omniscience, immutability, omnipotence, etc.

In addition, ‘kami’ are used to describe the causes of intense emotional reactions in interpersonal relationships, e.g. awe, fascination, amazement, fear or other feelings.

Background of the individual image motifs using the example of the Umbrella Revolution:

One installation takes up a demonstration in Hong Kong in which 100,000 activists used a barricade of umbrellas to defend themselves against an overpowering apparatus.

In 2014, these protests in Hong Kong became known worldwide as the ‘Umbrella Revolution’. The demonstrators used their umbrellas to protect themselves from the pepper spray used by the police.

However, the demonstrators rejected this term. The title ‘Umbrella Revolution’ only came about through the media, which created a revolutionary icon by spreading the same image motifs over and over again.