Annette Kelm

Stilleben mid Zierlauch (Still Life with Aluminum)

In Stilleben mid Zierlauch (Still Life with Aluminum) Annette Kelm utilizes visual juxtaposition to bring together a gridded aluminum backdrop, a pot with a vaguely indigenous pattern on it, and two purple dandelions. The aesthetic dissonance between the mechanical, gridded aluminum and the grainy clay pot signify an interaction between systems of visual production, furthered by the aluminum grid’s inward tilt, visually apparent due to the grid pattern’s convergence at the top of the photograph. Contrasting the stark slant of the grid, the pot sits on a level surface, while the two tall stems protruding from it run at a non-parallel angle to the grid. Though there emerges an uneasy relation between the clearly demarcated individual parts of the composition, its material pluralism is evidence of the work’s conflation of different cultural technologies and functionalities.