Paula Doepfner. Darkness at the break of noon
It’s no coincidence that Paula Doepfner’s minutely detailed drawings recall nerve cells and isolated regions of the brain, for they are based on sketches made while observing autopsies and neurosurgical procedures at the Charité hospital in Berlin.
- Exhibition Site Residenzschloss
- DATES 10/11/2023—28/01/2024
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In einem zeitaufwändigen Prozess
From these sketches Doepfner slowly builds up dense textual images by stringing together threads of tiny letters on fine tracing paper. Barely visible to the naked eye, these letters precisely transcribe selected passages from source texts dealing with some of the darkest aspects of human existence. Among her sources is a book titled Die Kinder von Auschwitz (The Children of Auschwitz), the result of journalist Alwin Meyer’s tireless search for the traces of Auschwitz survivors. Other text-based images by Doepfner draw on the Istanbul Protocol, a UN clinical manual on the investigation and documentation of torture, and on literary texts by the likes of Anne Carson, Paul Celan and Robert Musil.
