'Empty Afternoons' by Lito Kattou at Artothek, Cologne

Beings in constant redefining have abandoned their native landscapes. The surrounding terrains have probably absorbed their motion as they now rest in stillness… All these paths and roads they have taken and walked… And then, all of a sudden, the majestically standing mountains, volcanoes and rocks have incorporated those fighters in their multi-layered constitutions. An absolute captivation, where organic matter flows back in inorganic matter and what is epidermis is spitted out at the top layer. Now in solitude, this new relationship is more present than ever and so the personified rocks and their companions will pursue continuity in deep-time existence. Still geological forms and bodies. Frozen or ready to transform? Mountains are standing there waiting for the next reaction, the next millimetres of transformation in their own understanding of volume and time. But what is this kind of companionship approaching them? Landscapes always had their spirit animals.

Empty Afternoons brings together a new series of works by Lito Kattou, continuing the development and research of her interests in posthumanism, ecological concerns, non-patriarchical understandings of matter, moments of transformation, the absence and presence of the body and flatness as a an articulation of volume. The symbolic power of what a mountain/volcano and a tiger could be is revealed and unfolds through the exhibition. All wall pieces are digital incarnations of rocky geological terrains captured in various angles, taken from 3D models through simple screenshots and then saved on Kattou’s desktop. The images are digitally printed on synthetic textiles. The lightness and transformability of the textile as a material solidifies by a chemical component. The terrains are captured in a moment of unfolding or stretching out and in this way petrified textile, flat wall sculptures are created. 

The terrains are encircled by two flat-standing copper pieces.  These sculpture works are promising a new affection, a creation of a relationship other than the stereotypical of human/landscape. The tigers are captured flat and despite their stillness, their supportive mechanism promises mobility.  The permeability of the voids which are unfolding interiorly of the frame, which surrounds the animal body is permitting the tiger form to be placed in a direct relationship to the landscape, creating in this way a narrative of inhabitation and mobility which is of an uncertain time.