https://elinasaalfeld.com Elina Saalfeld Wed, 03 Dec 2025 18:41:42 +0000 https://elinasaalfeld.com en https://elinasaalfeld.com/Stapel-Stapel-Stapel-Stapeln Wed, 03 Dec 2025 18:41:42 +0000 Elina Saalfeld https://elinasaalfeld.com/Stapel-Stapel-Stapel-Stapeln Stapel Stapel Stapeln Stapeln Publication “Stapel Stapel Stapeln Stapeln” is a collection of poems collectively written by the Young Valley Soil-collective during our stay at the Bibliothek Andreas Züst in Appenzellerland (CH). Over the course of six weeks, we wove the library’s books into our writing, ranging from reports of alien sightings to artists reflecting on their own practices, alongside impressions of the surrounding landscape, discoveries and encounters. This publication brings together 29 poems, full of cross-references to one another and to the library. <img width="2086" height="1390" width_o="2086" height_o="1390" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/be7ff1436b7b8e6ecebc2253463620d3cc4cf03e73a1a448f1a0bfa3fd97f29a/Nayttokuva-2025-12-3-kello-19.45.50.png" data-mid="241386089" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/be7ff1436b7b8e6ecebc2253463620d3cc4cf03e73a1a448f1a0bfa3fd97f29a/Nayttokuva-2025-12-3-kello-19.45.50.png" /> <img width="1600" height="1073" width_o="1600" height_o="1073" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6882861e8469b77dbccb437bf760b9d9c2a2b44816ab2513b58cc23c1e5fc28d/52948bb1-7274-483a-9da3-ebd59eb64971.JPG" data-mid="241386096" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6882861e8469b77dbccb437bf760b9d9c2a2b44816ab2513b58cc23c1e5fc28d/52948bb1-7274-483a-9da3-ebd59eb64971.JPG" /> <img width="2008" height="1398" width_o="2008" height_o="1398" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b3ef8c5059b396050c004ae9326ea6cf0a50a3ffc979de435d43c29d73a8dd69/Nayttokuva-2025-12-3-kello-19.47.47.png" data-mid="241386119" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b3ef8c5059b396050c004ae9326ea6cf0a50a3ffc979de435d43c29d73a8dd69/Nayttokuva-2025-12-3-kello-19.47.47.png" /> https://elinasaalfeld.com/Mares-and-Night-Hags Wed, 03 Dec 2025 18:11:57 +0000 Elina Saalfeld https://elinasaalfeld.com/Mares-and-Night-Hags Mares and Night Hags 2-channel video installation At night, the landscape begins to flicker. Bodies move through the terrain, their contours only becoming visible through the camera. Some lie down, withdrawing from the daily cycle of work and exhaustion. Who stays awake when others are long asleep? The exhibition by Young Valley Soil presents an installative video work. It was filmed with a night-vision camera in the Swiss regions of Appenzell and Graubünden — among hills, fields, mountains, and forests.&nbsp; <img width="1600" height="1066" width_o="1600" height_o="1066" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4ab13b01dca3d7fec91d5b8542204166ae91e68e866c3c74891657e6df31a5cd/d832b64f-75c7-43a8-8a72-ec12dd8cb893.JPG" data-mid="241385426" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4ab13b01dca3d7fec91d5b8542204166ae91e68e866c3c74891657e6df31a5cd/d832b64f-75c7-43a8-8a72-ec12dd8cb893.JPG" /> <img width="2880" height="1800" width_o="2880" height_o="1800" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d42fe8a561c93c28c94a2af5721ef156775928d9aadee349441f1e792662eb51/Nayttokuva-2025-12-3-kello-19.29.06.png" data-mid="241385486" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d42fe8a561c93c28c94a2af5721ef156775928d9aadee349441f1e792662eb51/Nayttokuva-2025-12-3-kello-19.29.06.png" /> <img width="2880" height="1800" width_o="2880" height_o="1800" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8e9acc77988fc9ae0f68080f095492888204c8fe7bfcbb7fd3646d1884eb3499/Bildschirmfoto-2025-10-07-um-16.04.30.png" data-mid="241385441" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8e9acc77988fc9ae0f68080f095492888204c8fe7bfcbb7fd3646d1884eb3499/Bildschirmfoto-2025-10-07-um-16.04.30.png" /> FRISE Künstler*innenhaus, 2025 https://elinasaalfeld.com/Hard-to-Swallow Fri, 17 May 2024 14:29:20 +0000 Elina Saalfeld https://elinasaalfeld.com/Hard-to-Swallow Hard to Swallow Collective lecture performance It starts with a queasy feeling. I see something I don’t have; a place I’m not in; an appearance that isn’t mine. I want it, I need it, envy gnaws at my stomach. I suppress it, don’t let it in, cover it with politeness. It builds up, resentment builds and gnaws at me. How am I supposed to digest all of this? In the work “Hard to Swallow,” the Young Valley Soil-Collective invited guests to a performative lunch where they dedicated themselves to the manifestations of envy. The work consists of an audio piece for the journey to the performance, three on-site lecture performances, and a four-course menu - each course addressing different stages of envy: bitterness, envy, resentment, and digestion. <img width="2800" height="4200" width_o="2800" height_o="4200" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/24ccfb16f974c23c23090b263f597f2e0b19637855d93cdc847dcdfe8c667a22/20240414_SWALLOW_24.jpg" data-mid="241386149" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/24ccfb16f974c23c23090b263f597f2e0b19637855d93cdc847dcdfe8c667a22/20240414_SWALLOW_24.jpg" /> <img width="2800" height="4200" width_o="2800" height_o="4200" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/871bd76052a72fd7bedadd211b5e2049f8905339242127412d2577c85a5ec805/20240414_SWALLOW_30.jpg" data-mid="241386176" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/871bd76052a72fd7bedadd211b5e2049f8905339242127412d2577c85a5ec805/20240414_SWALLOW_30.jpg" /> <img width="1334" height="2000" width_o="1334" height_o="2000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ca8293815d4f379315fb2fb71b0f022b3b5c1444c43ad4f289733d4d65d5d54c/20240414_SWALLOW_31.jpg" data-mid="211140311" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ca8293815d4f379315fb2fb71b0f022b3b5c1444c43ad4f289733d4d65d5d54c/20240414_SWALLOW_31.jpg" /> M.1 Arthur Boskamp Stiftung Hohenlockstedt (Photos: Marie-Theres Böhmker) https://elinasaalfeld.com/march-hares-cuckoos-nuts Fri, 22 Sep 2023 11:59:52 +0000 Elina Saalfeld https://elinasaalfeld.com/march-hares-cuckoos-nuts march hares, cuckoos, nuts Screen print on textile, bubble wrap, watch chain 200 cm x 150 cm, 30 × 42 cm Cuckoos, March Hares, Nuts is a textile installation that uses the aesthetic strategies of psychiatric survivors movements (screen printing, cut-out techniques) to reflect on forms of representation of "madness" defined by the community itself. In the works, the cuckoo serves as an analogy for the simplifying mechanisms of imagery on people labelled as mentally ill.&nbsp; <img width="5319" height="4016" width_o="5319" height_o="4016" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/42e2abc95e0b2bccea1acbd9145e986371c9cc67014a08f72c72cdf99b80fb46/bird7.jpg" data-mid="191562336" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/42e2abc95e0b2bccea1acbd9145e986371c9cc67014a08f72c72cdf99b80fb46/bird7.jpg" /> <img width="6016" height="4016" width_o="6016" height_o="4016" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4dcd0c5ba545b588aae3c58cb13bd70bc7cdca73ff0c419b7f66bf147102c379/bird2.jpg" data-mid="191561263" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4dcd0c5ba545b588aae3c58cb13bd70bc7cdca73ff0c419b7f66bf147102c379/bird2.jpg" /> <img width="4016" height="6016" width_o="4016" height_o="6016" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f7db6c3e2497cd4bc3a6fa4af26ff41244d683d98a2776d26d1d7ba9358cc32a/bird11.jpg" data-mid="192232333" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f7db6c3e2497cd4bc3a6fa4af26ff41244d683d98a2776d26d1d7ba9358cc32a/bird11.jpg" /> CCA Berlin <img width="3632" height="4370" width_o="3632" height_o="4370" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3bb921d4abae357944fda3dd82e3b7f41f6b5430c143df2a90fd1b304ed5ebe3/linnut_print.jpg" data-mid="192232341" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/3bb921d4abae357944fda3dd82e3b7f41f6b5430c143df2a90fd1b304ed5ebe3/linnut_print.jpg" /> https://elinasaalfeld.com/dazeland-1 Mon, 02 Aug 2021 08:18:43 +0000 Elina Saalfeld https://elinasaalfeld.com/dazeland-1 Dazeland 2022 two-channel video installation 09:01min, stereo Link Dazeland explores water as a means of treatment and control in the history and present of European psychiatric institutions. In the work, the element of water serves as a metaphor for discipline and power but it is also depicted as a space of resolution, transformation, and security – a state of incompleteness. The changing and fleeing water serves as an analogy for the ever-shifting nature of historical narrative: The experiences of silenced positions trespass the surface through the demonstration of stigmas and power structures. <img width="2860" height="1598" width_o="2860" height_o="1598" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8ac78706410b4e9c813d96c1286467aa4d6abf06b7552e5c020900e305ca6d78/Nayttokuva-2022-10-31-kello-13.06.07.png" data-mid="158168133" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8ac78706410b4e9c813d96c1286467aa4d6abf06b7552e5c020900e305ca6d78/Nayttokuva-2022-10-31-kello-13.06.07.png" /> <img width="2864" height="1604" width_o="2864" height_o="1604" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/638bba9e41dad72dbefeba2018d7e3b0cf33ec8116b8e9bc25e75a19a6b23d5a/Nayttokuva-2022-10-24-kello-21.21.31.png" data-mid="158168145" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/638bba9e41dad72dbefeba2018d7e3b0cf33ec8116b8e9bc25e75a19a6b23d5a/Nayttokuva-2022-10-24-kello-21.21.31.png" />Video stills&nbsp; <img width="2005" height="1339" width_o="2005" height_o="1339" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c4be44dd8987df887ef00b7f56a7800d39a333ee0a8e32f4eecaeea0484b7b42/frappant.jpg" data-mid="161738803" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c4be44dd8987df887ef00b7f56a7800d39a333ee0a8e32f4eecaeea0484b7b42/frappant.jpg" /> Frappant Galerie https://elinasaalfeld.com/wings-steps-fire Mon, 07 Nov 2022 12:29:13 +0000 Elina Saalfeld https://elinasaalfeld.com/wings-steps-fire wings, steps, fire 08:01min (loop) Link by request Wings, Steps, Fire (2021) asks questions about historical objects found in fields and forests by so-called probers. These finds are not only considered evidence of "historical" narratives, but also trophies that circulate on online forums – a form of tangible currency for the time amateur archaeologists spend searching with metal detectors. The finds are photographed and uploaded to the forums to be commented on and admired, but also for purposes of sale and resale. The work looks at historical narratives - and the objects and photographs that carry them - as currencies, as trophies of power and as objects of desire. The result is a cacophony of contradictory narrative logics, temporalities and sensations that range from reassuring to uncomfortable, raising questions about the process that presents found objects as carriers of historical authenticity and vessels of nostalgia and projection; much like the cinematic and photographic process itself. - Seda Yildiz, curator <img width="2667" height="1492" width_o="2667" height_o="1492" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f2eb6f713d1f970a6d0fb967efa6b8ebeb0faae3270b69dea16cb89e31d9e5af/still2.jpg" data-mid="158168002" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f2eb6f713d1f970a6d0fb967efa6b8ebeb0faae3270b69dea16cb89e31d9e5af/still2.jpg" /> <img width="2322" height="1410" width_o="2322" height_o="1410" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c16b52e770990ad4b0ae7a1e4c4eb5889d5f7ce8558348d10a09722b6eb47272/Nayttokuva-2022-3-8-kello-19.47.31.png" data-mid="158168003" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c16b52e770990ad4b0ae7a1e4c4eb5889d5f7ce8558348d10a09722b6eb47272/Nayttokuva-2022-3-8-kello-19.47.31.png" /> Installation view, Museum für Fotografie Berlin <img width="2108" height="1400" width_o="2108" height_o="1400" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b5e7af31e6be7d6ff32518a43cb4bff669975e5c3a99c989c06ec19e67ab8f50/Nayttokuva-2023-1-19-kello-15.56.58.png" data-mid="165274336" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b5e7af31e6be7d6ff32518a43cb4bff669975e5c3a99c989c06ec19e67ab8f50/Nayttokuva-2023-1-19-kello-15.56.58.png" /> <img width="1250" height="829" width_o="1250" height_o="829" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e0be2445a14b4d6d86a89daf46129da5f95396adc28e21c6c2892bf863ff3e41/wings-steps-fire_2.jpg" data-mid="165273841" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e0be2445a14b4d6d86a89daf46129da5f95396adc28e21c6c2892bf863ff3e41/wings-steps-fire_2.jpg" /> Installation view, 8. Triennale der Photographie Hamburg https://elinasaalfeld.com/Light-Metal Thu, 18 Mar 2021 14:20:57 +0000 Elina Saalfeld https://elinasaalfeld.com/Light-Metal Light (Metal) Cyanotype on linen, steel&nbsp; I want to sleep with your truth against my cheek In installative works, Elina Saalfeld and Elisa Nessler wander through the tension fields of growing up and invite blurred glances at the search for the self and the other. Saalfeld's installation Light (Metal) explores notions of authenticity, identity, and the desire to be seen. For the work, poems from&nbsp;pubescents&nbsp;collected via social media are printed on linen using the cyanotype-process and are hung on a metal framework, creating a space that makes temporality and process visible. <img width="3508" height="4961" width_o="3508" height_o="4961" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4ba62b332c6b9f15cff596f3822a11b6cb4f868f55105abd75da434e8b50c5f7/Plakat_druck.png" data-mid="102464433" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4ba62b332c6b9f15cff596f3822a11b6cb4f868f55105abd75da434e8b50c5f7/Plakat_druck.png" />Design: Fiete Lauschke <img width="3936" height="2216" width_o="3936" height_o="2216" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f90f9f167d9f5dc564ae73d2d842d7dffbd6ad1273a311907c9916a8f7c3b709/saalfeld_1.jpg" data-mid="105208032" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f90f9f167d9f5dc564ae73d2d842d7dffbd6ad1273a311907c9916a8f7c3b709/saalfeld_1.jpg" /> <img width="1800" height="1013" width_o="1800" height_o="1013" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/29309685ac46992544f146e8181760c8120981e8c3406f762e6a25690e319b5f/saalfeld_4.jpg" data-mid="105206575" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/29309685ac46992544f146e8181760c8120981e8c3406f762e6a25690e319b5f/saalfeld_4.jpg" /> <img width="1800" height="3197" width_o="1800" height_o="3197" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/adb5a6901eb9a79b4b1f4ca7737d731586ee05430311f1c5ef1c998c7e535948/exhibition-view_2.jpg" data-mid="105221851" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/adb5a6901eb9a79b4b1f4ca7737d731586ee05430311f1c5ef1c998c7e535948/exhibition-view_2.jpg" /> <img width="3000" height="4500" width_o="3000" height_o="4500" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/46cf87e1ece512abd63c5f348ee680f9dea03ee65c38de4c7dad2428064ffb7b/fff5.jpg" data-mid="104510089" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/46cf87e1ece512abd63c5f348ee680f9dea03ee65c38de4c7dad2428064ffb7b/fff5.jpg" /> Frappant Galerie https://elinasaalfeld.com/Crossings-of-O Sat, 28 Nov 2020 17:12:53 +0000 Elina Saalfeld https://elinasaalfeld.com/Crossings-of-O With Young Valley Soil: Crossings of OMixed media Crossings of O is created in a dialogue between the artist Helena Müller and the Young Valley Soil-collective. “While the Young Valley Soil collective asks us to form an “O” with our mouths, Helena Müller invites us on a steam tour after sunset. In their showcase exhibitions, the artists enter into a dialogue about processes of visualization: of gender stereotypes, coded meanings, and the coincidental permanence of interpersonal encounters or of alliances with one another. The glass panes of the showcases are of special importance here: the artists resist their spatial limitations, using both their interior and their exterior. They expand them audibly, but also performatively, as mediators of revealing and concealing. This is a beginning.” - Anette Hans, Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof <img width="4504" height="2825" width_o="4504" height_o="2825" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6aaadbbd21306b5725bd2c45d8b956378aa78c7317e4b8d049f9a3c694792f25/vitrine1.jpg" data-mid="90400403" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6aaadbbd21306b5725bd2c45d8b956378aa78c7317e4b8d049f9a3c694792f25/vitrine1.jpg" /> <img width="2781" height="1786" width_o="2781" height_o="1786" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/dc812a1ac986224d1f9a52a7e8e75c263c37164a6bd647528f269fc9516ce81a/vitrine2.jpg" data-mid="102300985" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/dc812a1ac986224d1f9a52a7e8e75c263c37164a6bd647528f269fc9516ce81a/vitrine2.jpg" /> Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof https://elinasaalfeld.com/years-of-sameness Thu, 24 Sep 2020 10:21:24 +0000 Elina Saalfeld https://elinasaalfeld.com/years-of-sameness years of sameness18:08min (loop) Link upon request ”years of sameness” is based on a research of choirs, that are established for rehabilitation of people with aphasia. Trough singing familiar songs, people who had lost their ability to speak can gain back access to language. For the work, an archive of songs from a choir for people with aphasia are run trough an AI designed to create ”emotional music”. Trough this translation process, a new set of compositions is created on the base of the choirs recordings (instruments, scale, melody). In the procedure, language gets ereased by default and solely the hook lines and melodies recognized as ”emotional” remain. At times, this translation process fails creating a cathartic, unsettling overall composition.&nbsp; <img width="2000" height="1321" width_o="2000" height_o="1321" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4651e8e03a44eada4e0f88b6d70ab5589a0be038ea65adb1a812bf6f11a33d3b/kuoro_netti1.jpg" data-mid="83640307" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4651e8e03a44eada4e0f88b6d70ab5589a0be038ea65adb1a812bf6f11a33d3b/kuoro_netti1.jpg" /> <img width="2000" height="1418" width_o="2000" height_o="1418" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d4dc93e93b0f0f45c99810b98a36c2d5e61ab22b96b01d3b88b143140aa213f1/kuoro_netti2.jpg" data-mid="83640308" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d4dc93e93b0f0f45c99810b98a36c2d5e61ab22b96b01d3b88b143140aa213f1/kuoro_netti2.jpg" /> <img width="5157" height="3264" width_o="5157" height_o="3264" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5c27281629beaa714dbe26d8fd4e26367648b81acf15cf070abc0182f5bb6744/kuoro_netti3.jpg" data-mid="83640342" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5c27281629beaa714dbe26d8fd4e26367648b81acf15cf070abc0182f5bb6744/kuoro_netti3.jpg" /> HFBK Hamburg https://elinasaalfeld.com/Misunderstood-careless-whisper Wed, 06 Oct 2021 08:44:03 +0000 Elina Saalfeld https://elinasaalfeld.com/Misunderstood-careless-whisper With Francisca Markus: Misunderstood careless whisper 08:20min (loop) Audio link upon request&nbsp; How far can an evergreen pop hook be transformed, until it loses its immediate identifiability? In their joint work A misunderstood careless Whisper Francisca Markus and Elina Saalfeld explore the stumbling, harmonizing, drifting apart, the distortion and the collaboration in language. The work is created in an exchange and a correspondance of soundtracks.The tracks sent back and forth deal with pop music as a quote and pose questions on the tension between the intimate confessions that are conveyed in pop lyrics and their nature of being endlessly circulating. The created tracks are connected and held in space by tension belts - creating a field of traps and connections. <img width="1500" height="2247" width_o="1500" height_o="2247" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/81a9b785d60109f31feffc0656b599a59fc0294ce973781f83e1ba35dc71150c/_DSC2396.JPG" data-mid="120836697" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/81a9b785d60109f31feffc0656b599a59fc0294ce973781f83e1ba35dc71150c/_DSC2396.JPG" /> <img width="1500" height="2247" width_o="1500" height_o="2247" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/16052a340cf920ca0f4d592deaf0f08389d6a9205fa745b2623602f4b8c11f20/Saalfeld_Elina_Markus_Francisca_Abb_4.JPG" data-mid="136728934" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/16052a340cf920ca0f4d592deaf0f08389d6a9205fa745b2623602f4b8c11f20/Saalfeld_Elina_Markus_Francisca_Abb_4.JPG" /> <img width="1000" height="1565" width_o="1000" height_o="1565" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d9b88f16621f8b9732e7a663b74e89f18282ee86ed172757b28f1c783aeb4840/_DSC2314.JPG" data-mid="135690667" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d9b88f16621f8b9732e7a663b74e89f18282ee86ed172757b28f1c783aeb4840/_DSC2314.JPG" />