CAROLINE MONNET

The Schirn presents video works by artist Caroline Monnet

TRANSATLANTIC documents the artist's 22-day journey on a cargo ship from Europe to Canada

For artist Caroline Monnet, the Atlantic connects both sides of her identity

CAROLINE MONNET. TRANSATLANTIC

EXTENDED UNTIL 5 SEPTEMBER 2021

For Caroline Monnet (b. 1985), the Atlantic Ocean links the two sides of her identity, shaped by her Algonquin ancestry in Canada and her French ancestry in Europe. The SCHIRN presents, in its Rotunda, Monnet’s immersive video work Transatlantic (2018, 15 min.), which documents the artist’s twenty-two-day journey by cargo ship from Europe to Canada. Mirrored at the center and accompanied by a soundtrack of Morse code and radio frequencies in a filmic montage, the images of the Atlantic crossing exert a forceful pull. This contrasts with the static equilibrium of the three concrete spheres of Proximal I, II, III (2018/2020) which, in the SCHIRN, are combined with the video work to create a powerful installation. The spheric sculptures refer, among other things, to the lunar cycles that play a central role in the Algonquin tradition. The installation illuminates the impact of colonial history between Europe and North America, covering trade and migration as well as the traumatic experiences of Indigenous peoples. The theme of representing Indigenous peoples and cultures in present-day society runs through all of Monnet’s work. At the SCHIRN, Monnet’s installation “Transatlantic” enters into a dialogue with the paintings of Canada’s Group of Seven, which are simultaneously presented in the exhibition MAGNETIC NORTH

The immersive video work in the rotunda is now open to the public!