About the artist and the mein Heim (my Home) project

I am a Norwegian visual artist who mainly works with photography, video and installations. My pieces revolve around an investigation of nature, biology, psychology, as well as identity, social and political issues.

When I boarded the flight from Oslo to Berlin on 28.02.2020, I had no idea what was expecting us, what kind of state of emergency and consequences the coming coronavirus pandemic would lead to: a total shutdown of society. A mere week after my return to Berlin, the virus had spread to Norway, Germany and other European countries and there was an atmosphere of near panic. Borders were closing, people were frightened, I was frightened. On my Norwegian mobile phone, which was connected to a German phone company, the Internet connection suddenly changed to “BleibZuhause” (stayathome) and later to “Bleibgesund” (stayhealthy).

The first month was extremely challenging for me, with several of my exhibitions being postponed, among other things. The restrictions concerning social distancing and physical contact made it impossible for me to go ahead with the photo and video shoots I had originally planned. I was desperate to get the work done, but was stuck in what I perceived to be a hopeless situation. Not wanting to leave my German boyfriend behind, I had to make a difficult choice. I had to stay in Berlin and therefore it was highly uncertain when I would be able to see my family and friends in Norway again.

After a short period of forced inactivity, I decided to change my approach, to do other projects than originally planned, projects that were novel to me as an artist. At that point I developed the idea to do a photo and video project about the situation of homeless people during the coronavirus pandemic.

One evening at the Bahnhof Zoo train station I approached a charity called Berliner Tiertafel e.V. Berliner Tiertafel e.V. distributes food and clothing, in particular to homeless people with animals. This is where I met Manuell. Manuell has been living on the streets for about three years, in several German cities. One year ago he decided to walk from Hamburg to Berlin and has since been staying in the Wannsee district. We hit it off, and I shared my plans for a project about the situation of the homeless during the covid 19 pandemic with him. I asked if he would consider being my project assistant, and he was more than happy to accept the offer.

Without Manuell and his great effort to find a variety of fellow homeless people prepared to participate, I would have been unable to realise the project. He was my door opener into a world that was completely new and unknown to me and also helped me phrase the questions for the interviewees.

If you would like to learn more about my projects and artistic practice, please visit my website www.perchristianbrown.com

Per Christian Brown, 12. July 2020