During the preparation for this summer's exhibition I had the great chance to meet and work with Brandon Ballengée. For his exhibits we worked a lot on the digital side and on the production side.
For example, with his work "Cry of the Silent forms" we had to find quite a lot of technological equipment in order to play the small videos and also to build a "house" for them and for the beautiful forms of life that they represent. The preparation for this installation took a lot of time, considering the many details that needed to be taken into account but the result was excellent. The eight boxes that were built represent eight sources of life of different species, caught in a unique moment that only a biologist, a man who studies / observes many of these forms could catch.
Branon Ballengee is also a biologist who is dedicated to his science and at the same time inspired from his science. The art-works "Requiem" and "Malamp" are all about this. The artist presents in the case of "Malamp: The Occurence of Deformities in Amphibians" a documentary on his field investigations for deformed frogs in collaboration with local communities before they become the source of beautiful prints that he makes. In the work "Un Requiem pour Flocons de Neige Blesses", Brandon made a video on the metamorphic toads in memorial to all the beings that lack our attention.
With Brandon working on our side, preparing the exhibition was even more enjoyable. What I admired the most in Brandon is his humanity which is obvious in his art. He chooses to study all the unprotected, injured, and extinct life forms, and then to give them impetus as marvellous art works. Assisting in the whole procedure of installing Brandon's works was creative and very interesting at the same time, since the artist answered all my questions with many details showing with all his words his "love" for these unprotected beings.
Eirini Kokkinidou, intern at Art Laboratory Berlin
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