Cellar Door

Cellar Door, 2022, HD-Video, 21:50 min

In the video work Cellar Door, which is the centre piece of the exhibition Heimsuchung, two women move through an old cellar vault as ghost hunters. In search of the paranormal, they explore boundaries and limitations – existential, psychological and physical. In search of the haunting spirit, they overwrite inscriptions of the past and become self-empowering actors. Formally reminiscent of Ghost Hunting reality TV formats, we watch the protagonists reoccupy and exorcise, an act in which fear and delight are intertwined. Following pioneers of psychoanalysis – Toni Wolff and Sabina Spielrein, who themselves became ghosts of history – they explore the real space occupied by the ghost, the basement of the house as a psychosocial space, as well as their own inner spaces and limitations. The exhibition is placed in the very same cellar vault, which stages the video work. Visitors are equipped with torches and explore the dark, winding rooms on their own. The ghost hunters’ tools and talismans are scattered around the rooms, strange noises repeat the audio inscriptions of the protagonists. Keys for hidden doors teem. The walls have eyes. The exhibition is closed by a collective exorcism of the old, a performance, that draws to the Roman festivity of Lemuria. Visitors and performers throw black beans to banish unpleasant ancestrial forces and enjoy edible art pieces while listening to haunting anecdotes and tales. Lastly, a new abode for the cellar’s house spirit is inaugurated together.

Cellar Door, 2022, HD-Video, 21:50 min., Screenshots

Cellar Door, 2022, HD-Video; Schlüsselbund für Mediale Frauen, (polymer clay, acrylic), 2022; Ghost Hunting Tools (I-X), 2022, (polymer clay, acrylic, EMF meter, magnifier); Left Brain / Right Brain, 2022, 2-channel video-installation, (Loop); Heimsuchung, Part II der Trilogie des Un-Heimlichen, Galerie Historischer Keller, Berlin, curated by Kira Dell and Laura Seidel, 2022, installation view (Photo: Eva Dittrich)

Performance: Rosanna Graf, Signe Raunkjaer Holm
Written, directed and edited by Rosanna Graf
DOP: Goscha Steinhauer
Costume: Rosanna Graf
Music: Nicolas Fehr
Sound Design: Rosanna Graf
Sound Mixing: Nikolaus Graf
Assistants: Laurens Bauer, Laura Franzmann

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Cellar Door

In the video work Cellar Door, which is the centre piece of the exhibition Heimsuchung, two women move through an old cellar vault as ghost hunters. In search of the paranormal, they explore boundaries and limitations – existential, psychological and physical. In search of the haunting spirit, they overwrite inscriptions of the past and become self-empowering actors. Formally reminiscent of Ghost Hunting reality TV formats, we watch the protagonists reoccupy and exorcise, an act in which fear and delight are intertwined. Following pioneers of psychoanalysis – Toni Wolff and Sabina Spielrein, who themselves became ghosts of history – they explore the real space occupied by the ghost, the basement of the house as a psychosocial space, as well as their own inner spaces and limitations. The exhibition is placed in the very same cellar vault, which stages the video work. Visitors are equipped with torches and explore the dark, winding rooms on their own. The ghost hunters’ tools and talismans are scattered around the rooms, strange noises repeat the audio inscriptions of the protagonists. Keys for hidden doors teem. The walls have eyes. The exhibition is closed by a collective exorcism of the old, a performance, that draws to the Roman festivity of Lemuria. Visitors and performers throw black beans to banish unpleasant ancestrial forces and enjoy edible art pieces while listening to haunting anecdotes and tales. Lastly, a new abode for the cellar’s house spirit is inaugurated together.

Cellar Door, 2022, HD-Video; Schlüsselbund für Mediale Frauen, 2022; Ghost Hunting Tools, 2022; Heimsuchung, Part II der Trilogie des Un-Heimlichen, Galerie Historischer Keller, Berlin, curated by Kira Dell and Laura Seidel, 2022, installation view (Photo: Eva Dittrich)

Performance: Rosanna Graf, Signe Raunkjaer Holm
Written, directed and edited by Rosanna Graf
DOP: Goscha Steinhauer
Costume: Rosanna Graf
Music: Nicolas Fehr
Sound Design: Rosanna Graf
Sound Mixing: Nikolaus Graf
Assistants: Laurens Bauer, Laura Franzmann

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