'Moving Parts of an Effigy' by AnaÏs Morales at Scherben, Berlin

Manifesting One‘s Future
 What happens when we manifest? How do we manage to manifest in order to create a world we want to live in, which provides us with what we need to be able to live a good life? Presumably humans in the Stone Age already asked themselves these questions while they painted their hunting murals, hidden deep in caves. And the longer we as humans walk on this earth, the more important these questions become in our today’s world. How can I influence my future and create situations that support me? Is it enough to wish for a goal, or do I have to imagine myself as precise as possible at the moment when I have reached the goal? If I create something (in my mind), is it as real as the thing itself in reality? 

For her new exhibition “Moving parts of an Effigy” Anaïs Morales creates a stage-like setting in the darkened exhibition space of the project space “Scherben”, which consists of two temporarily raised walls and a luminous, relief-like piece that emerges through the gap between the two walls. As the piece responds to motion and its viewer’s presence, it asks you as the visitor to come close. This setting is enhanced by a sculpture and two oil paintings, which motifs are reminiscent of the luminous piece. 

Anaïs Morales works with the concept of an effigy and its depicted model. How abstract can a motif become in order to still be recognized as what it portrays? Does the medium painting need to switch to another medium to retain some truths about itself? And how important is the production process and is it sometimes even more important than the result itself? 

— Samantha Bohatsch