Kopfschmerzen,
Hommage à Emmanuel Lévinas

Kopfschmerzen (headache) is a tribute to the philosophy of Emmanuel Lévinas, especially his concepts of Hospitality and Alterity. I have created a series of intimate works with nature, using its materials, shapes, and meanings. This unfolding relationship between humans and nature has evoked forms that resemble the human head and mountains.

 

Levinas’ concept of hospitality underscores a selfless responsibility toward the other. The host/artist is indebted to the guest/mountain enabling them to express their intrinsic nature and essence.

 

In today's world, it is crucial to expand the semantic field of alterity to encompass all of Nature. To achieve this, we must alternately be host and guest, passing through what Gilles Deleuze calls the "immanence plan”. Our responsibility to each and other, allowing for uniqueness and individuality, is as inherent to human existence as a Kopfschmerzen.