What remains of the end @ Museum for Sepulchral Culture in Kassel

December 02, 2023 - March 03, 2024 Opening: December 01, 2023 | 6 pm

The "50 Ashes" cycle, which the Museum for Sepulchral Culture was able to purchase for its collection, consists of photographs showing human ashes and implants such as pacemakers or artificial joints. Tina Ruisinger's interest was also aroused by items that were included in the cremated remains, such as glasses, pocket knives and golf clubs. As a first step, she photographed the complete remains, which are technically collected on a grate in the lower part of the cremation oven. The variety of views of the supposedly always the same material of bone remains and ashes is surprising: in form and color, a supposed individuality of the cremated remains appears. Are these projections of the viewer, who knows that these are the ashes of 50 people who were cremated in their coffins? Or does this not actually reveal the uniqueness of each individual in their remains? There are sensitive photographs of 50 human ashes as well as large-format portraits of objects that usually had a medical use for the deceased during their lifetime. (Excerpt from the press release by Dirk Pörschmann)

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Dom Museum Vienna Exhibition Being Mortal

The exhibition deals with the most inevitable part of every existence. Juxtaposing works of art that span a cultural-historical arc from the Middle Ages to the present, "Being Mortal" traces the deep meaning of death in individual as well as collective and socio-political contexts. The show focuses on intimate, personal approaches as well as the public, political role of dying and the process of facing death.

I am very grateful to be part of this important exhibition with my serie “Traces”

Duration of the exhibition October 6, 2023 – August 25, 2024
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Hans Magnus Enzensberger

German novelist, poet and essayist Hans Magnus Enzensberger, considered one of the country’s pre-eminent post-war intellectuals, has died at the age of 93 on November 24. He was one of the most influential German intellectuals in the world. He has published over 70 works in poetry, prose, essays and plays, as well as being a translator, publisher and critic.

In 2010 I had the pleasure to meet and photograph him in Munich for the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative together with his protégé Tracy K. Smith from New York. We walked through the English Garden together, spoke about god and the world, drank tea at his book office and did a very funny boats trip together. It was very hot. I photographed him at his home. It was an unforgettable day.

STONE SCISSORS PAPER @ Kunstverein Kärnten Künstlerhaus Klagenfurt

Group exhibition curated by Marlies Liekfeld-Rapetti
September 9 - October 28, 2022
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The finger-game is about the soft material paper wrapping around the hard stone or being cut by the scissors, the metal of the scissors in turn being cut by the stone. Certain aggregate states of matter reveal their properties. The exhibition examines and shows what effects they have and how unambiguous they are or seem to be.What remains, on the other hand, is a pair of metal scissors from the crematorium ashes from the act of burning the human body, as well as stone formations apparently as the remains of gallstones or kidney stones (Tina Ruisinger). These have condensed into stone masses in the human body from extracted minerals of vegetarian food (preparations, small gallery). Paper layers form congenial skinning paper torsos (Marlies Liekfeld-Rapetti), while wearable paper dresses suggest textiles (Frauke Danzer). Non-representational paper castings (Bodo Korsig) can be read as invented concrete. 17 invited artists deal with their material, the material and its effect. In an exemplary way, matter is shown as what we think we know or in opposition to it. In this way, the exhibition serves to question being or appearance, passing or standing, and offers just as much playful access as the title promises.

Der Tod, radikal normal. Über das, was am Ende wichtig ist. Death, radically normal. About what is important in the end.

Our relationship to death is decidedly ambivalent. Never before have we been able to encounter death in such a self-determined way as we do today - never before have there been so many information and services relating to dying and death. It is omnipresent in popular culture, the media and consequently in everyday life. On the one hand, we are fascinated. On the other hand, we remain biased when talking about the topic and prefer to repress it. Why is that?

Group exhibition at Vögele Kultur Zentrum Pfäffikon from May 17 till September 18, 22

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From the serie “Ashes” 2020

The book is out !

I am very delighted to announce that the book “Asche, und was vom Ende bleibt” is published now and available at the exhibition at Friedhof Forum Zurich. Aemtlerstrasse 149, 8003 Zurich.
More Information about the book.

The exhibition is open again

From March 1st 2021, the exhibition “Asche, und was vom Ende bleibt” is open again at Friedhof Forum in Zurich. Opening hours are Tuesday till Thursday 12.30-4.30 pm and every first Tuesday/ month 12.30-8.00 pm. Aemtlerstrasse 149, 8003 Zurich

MEMENTO - The Force Field of Memories @ Museum für Sepulkralkultur

OPENING OCTOBER 16, 2020 7.30 PM (10/17, 2020 – 2/28, 2021) Weinbergstraße 25–27, 34117 Kassel

An exhibition on individual forms of remembering and commemoration

The Museum of Sepulchral Culture, Kassel dedicates the exhibition MEMENTO – The Force Field of Memories to individual forms of remembrance and commemoration through a selection of international contemporary artworks and cultural-historical testimonies. The title refers to the simultaneously attractive and repellent effect of memories of people and experiences that have been lost to the current of time. The attraction of thoughts of the past and of images of memory, which, due to their painful psychological and emotional potentials, can often be accompanied by inner defence mechanisms, makes people leave their present ­– the here and now. Tina Ruisinger as a participation artists presents parts of her work “Traces”

Exhibition of ASHES @ Friedhof Forum Zurich

OPENING SEPTEMBER 30 2020, 7-10 PM
INFORMATION AND REGISTRATION

Friedhof Forum, Aemtlerstrasse 149, 8003 Zürich

Ashes is the continuation of my work Traces about the things that are left behind when a person dies, traces of the deceased, as comforting memories for the bereaved. While my interest in Traces lies in the things that the bereaved, i.e. the living, keep for themselves, with Ashes I focus specifically on the deceased. What is left of a human body when it's dead? What immediate traces does it leave behind?

I photographed the ashes of 50 deceased in the Nordheim crematorium.

After the cremation not only ashes remain. But also things that do not burn, that do not disappear - not even at over 1000° Celsius. Once they were connected to the people they belonged to. Once they have been stripped of their original function and transformed by the heat, they are they become enigmatic objects from a distant universe.

Olafur Eliasson @ Kunsthaus Zurich

Symbiotic Seeing 01/17-03/22, 2020

Olafur Eliasson is one of the most important artists of our time, translating complex theoretical deliberations into dreamlike spatial works, appealing to the visitors not only rationally but also touching them emotionally and moving physically.

In 2016 I had the honour to photograph him in his studio in Berlin on behalf of the  Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative

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New Work

Remain 1/50

Remains 1/50 is a new work that I started recently, continuing my research on the traces of human focusing on objects that remain after cremation. It opens up new questions towards definition of burials, funeral ecology and again dealing with loss and death.

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Schalktheater

Pan's Schatten

The Schalktheater is an inclusive theater program and is aimed at amateurs and professionals who want to play theater after a crisis. In addition to the weekly training, the co-players work out a professional stage production every year. More www.schalktheater.ch

The Schalktheater Pan's Shadow - paradise and hell on a fantastic island Who does not want to be a child forever? The story of Peter Pan tells of a longing for an eternal childhood, infinite play and the supremacy of the imagination. These desires have a downside: With his shadow, Peter Pan also looks for his past, his identity. The Schalktheater players, directed by Daniel Wahl, search for their personal connections to the story. They create a world of dreamlike scenes of desires and fears. Will you learn to fly?

With Filip K. Birchler, Sara Gossweiler, Indihirajith Kumarasamy, Olivier Marti, Nora von Schrottenberg, Anna Tibai, Geraldine Breuleux (Guest)

Director: Daniel Wahl Stage & Costumes: Viva Schudt Music: Benjamin Brodbeck Dramaturgy: Ann-Marie Arioli Production Management: Cristina Achermann Photography: Tina Ruisinger Lighting Design: Thomi Kohler Lighting: Philipp Blum, Nino Baumann Sound: Dorian Rodis, Jean-Marc Desbonnets Overall direction Schalktheater: Nina Hesse Bernard Production: Verein Schalktheater

Premiere 23.10.2019 20:00 Kulturmarkt Zurich, Aemtlerstrasse 23, 8003 Zurich
Further data 24.10.2019 20:00, 26.10.2019 20:00, 29.10.2019 20:00, 30.10.2019 20:00

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“The eye should learn to listen before it looks"

Robert Frank 1924 - 2019

Swiss American photographer and filmmaker Robert Frank was one of the most influential photographers of the 20th century, noted for his ironic renderings of American life has died on September 9, 2019. Independent, unconventional and personal, Frank has always followed his own poetic and raw language. In the 1950s he travelled the United States, photographing people in everyday situations that depicted the gritty “real life” of the US at the time. This resulted in his 1958 book of 83 photographs called The Americans, which became a classic. It documented societal problems in the US in the 1950s, some of which are still unresolved in the country today.

I have photographed Robert Frank in 2000 in Zurich for my book “Faces of Photography”

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Traces - the last image

Exhibition Zurich Lighthouse

The Zurich Lighthouse offers terminally ill, dying people a place to rest for over 30 years. We help our residents achieve the highest possible quality of life and the most autonomous farewell possible. Our interdisciplinary team not only guarantees holistic care and personal care, but also a last home. At the Lighthouse we live and carry the attitude of openness and honesty and respect the value of each person.

After one year, the exhibition “TRACES - THE LAST IMAGE” at the Hospice Zurich Lighthouse will be finished by the end of October 2019. I am very honoured to have been able to show this work in such an important institution. For a last glimpse: Zurich Lighthouse, Carmenstrasse 42, 8032 Zurich. More www.zuercher-lighthouse.ch

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