Mirko Martin (*1976) will be presenting photographs and videos of Los Angeles in the Remise. The Berlin-based artist used his camera to trace the ambivalences of urban life on the bustling streets of downtown and among the famous backdrops of Hollywood. All of the works depict an entanglement of documentation and fiction.

In the photoseries L.A. Crash (2006–09), Martin focuses from a variety of perspectives on public life as well as arranged locations: car accidents, arrests, burning high-rise buildings, and street photographs that present people and momentary encounters. The images appear to originate from a cinematographic memory, and when viewing them they evoke ambiguous narrative threads. The narrative character is heightened through the associative hanging and the varying formats. Where the events took place always remains open. The boundaries between documentary and staged photography are blurred.

Martin implements the same strategy of weaving together reality and fantasy in his most recent video, which is being presented for the first time. It is the filmic portrait of a homeless man whom the artist accompanied for several weeks in his by all means structured everyday life.

In the video Noir (2008), the screen remains black; it is the sound level alone as well as its central visualization as subtitles that evoke subjective images. One hears the noise being made by helicopters and police sirens from the off. The dialogue ignites an action-packed plot in the viewer’s mind.