Anna Anders concentrates on video art and video installations. Born in Munich in 1959, her preoccupation with video began in 1986. Her works have been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions, as well as at fairs and festivals. Anna Anders is a co-founder of the media art agency “art 2b” in Cologne. She has been a lecturer at various institutions since 2004 and, in 2005, she became a Professor at the Universität der Künste (University of the Arts, design section) in Berlin..

Am Strand, 2012, Videostill, HD, 12’15 min

Am Strand, 2012, Videostill, HD, 12’15 min

Anders is fascinated by movement, which led her to choose video as an artistic medium. She is also keen on analysing everyday leisure activities, such as spending a day at the beach or engaging in sports. Additionally, she explores absurdities in fictional situations, like in the 2003 video “Der Leopard” (The Leopard), in which a woman clad in a leopard-pattern coat goes to the Cologne Zoo to find a mate. Yet these absurdities have a deeper meaning and serve as a comment on our times: Aren’t we making fools of ourselves dressing up like wild animals, outside a masquerade? Or, alternatively: Is life itself anything more than a masquerade?

Of course Anna Anders explores the voyeuristic fascination of video as a medium, but she also gives into the fascination of objects and their tales of humanity. They are witnesses of human activity, conserving within themselves information of our society and culture. Thus, her videos also have an archaeological aspect, while being part of a broader cultural history.

Entrance, 2012, HD, 9’40 min, loop

Entrance, 2012, HD, 9’40 min, loop

She usually doesn’t allow visual contact between those people being filmed and the beholder, as this would be tantamount to establishing a personal relation and personal relationships are exactly what her videos are not about. The people move freely, seemingly unaware that they’re being observed. This excludes the artist’s influence and rather attempts pure observation, which, sometimes, is the best interpretation.

In 2008, Samuelis Baumgarte Gallery showed large video installations by the Berlin artist on the occasion of the exhibition Vamos a la playa.

Sonnenbad, 2004, video projection on sand, 16-20 min

Ausgrabungen, 2004, video projection on sand, 9\'30 min

Ausgrabungen, 2004, video projection on sand, 9\'30 min

Exhibition:

Vamos a la playa, 07.10.2008 - 15.11.2008, Samuelis Baumgarte Galerie Vamos a la playa

Recent exhibitions:

"Covered", Skaftfell Center for Visual Art, Seyðisfjörður, Island, 2012