UNHEIMLICH
2024
Acrylic on canvas
80x100cm
UNHEIMLICH—a German word meaning "uncanny" or "unhomely." The word holds special significance for Mark Fisher, a British cultural critic who inspired the artwork. For Fisher, the UNHEIMLICH encapsulates the unsettling feeling when the familiar becomes strange and the ordinary takes on a
n eerie or disconcerting quality. This sensation arises when something once comforting reveals hidden layers of ambiguity or alienation.
Fisher connects the UNHEIMLICH to the concept of hauntology, borrowed from philosopher Jacques Derrida. Hauntology deals with the persistence of elements from the past—ideas, styles, or cultural forms—that linger like ghosts in the present. The UNHEIMLICH is the feeling we get when we encounter these ghosts, recognizing them yet feeling uneasy about their presence.
Fisher argues that contemporary culture is haunted by lost futures—visions and possibilities from the past that were never realized but continue to linger in our collective consciousness. Modern society experiences a temporal dislocation, where the boundaries between past, present, and future blur. This results in a haunting effect as cultural artefacts and memories from bygone eras resurface in unexpected ways.
The artwork UNHEIMLICH is the artist’s visual interpretation of personal feeling with the word UNHEIMLICH, aligning with Mark Fisher’s explanation of the term.
2024
Acrylic on canvas
80x100cm
UNHEIMLICH—a German word meaning "uncanny" or "unhomely." The word holds special significance for Mark Fisher, a British cultural critic who inspired the artwork. For Fisher, the UNHEIMLICH encapsulates the unsettling feeling when the familiar becomes strange and the ordinary takes on a
n eerie or disconcerting quality. This sensation arises when something once comforting reveals hidden layers of ambiguity or alienation.
Fisher connects the UNHEIMLICH to the concept of hauntology, borrowed from philosopher Jacques Derrida. Hauntology deals with the persistence of elements from the past—ideas, styles, or cultural forms—that linger like ghosts in the present. The UNHEIMLICH is the feeling we get when we encounter these ghosts, recognizing them yet feeling uneasy about their presence.
Fisher argues that contemporary culture is haunted by lost futures—visions and possibilities from the past that were never realized but continue to linger in our collective consciousness. Modern society experiences a temporal dislocation, where the boundaries between past, present, and future blur. This results in a haunting effect as cultural artefacts and memories from bygone eras resurface in unexpected ways.
The artwork UNHEIMLICH is the artist’s visual interpretation of personal feeling with the word UNHEIMLICH, aligning with Mark Fisher’s explanation of the term.