How many thoughts does one have in two years? How many experiences? How many things has one not experienced? How much has one observed? Which of these have become memories? How much has one forgotten? How much has one imagined? What does one regret? What one has done, or what one could not do?
The installation “The last two years didn’t happen” is composed of drawings and text fragments, diary entries, memories, and collections of thoughts. It is an archive of experiences and thoughts, of things not experienced and felt over two years. And for the protagonist, this is associated with a feeling of “lost time.”
It is marked by depressive phases. In retrospect, the assessment of life becomes distorted. One’s own experiences and achievements are devalued. The feeling of having experienced, learned, or achieved nothing has a negative effect on the self-esteem of the person affected. It leads to a vicious circle of depression, listlessness, and regret. The view of the reality of one’s own past becomes clouded and obscures all the individual memories of what was actually experienced.
Philipp Renda understands his artistic practice as a multi-layered exploration of inner worlds, emotional states, and the abstraction of feelings. His works do not arise primarily from a conceptual approach, but rather from an inner attitude—following an impulse that spontaneously breaks through and finds expression in an interplay of form, composition, and pictorial and linguistic representation.
At the center of his work are quick, sketch-like notations of inner moods. These moods arise from a personal inner emotion, reflection on a theme, or external inspiration—triggered, for example, by music, texts, stories, current events, or experiences. External impressions are absorbed, processed, projected onto his own inner life—and finally transferred to paper as a filtered image of an emotional essence.
The installation arrangement creates a “pile of thought” – a simultaneous juxtaposition of emotions, impressions, and meanings. Thoughts and feelings condense into an open, experiential “chaos in the mind” that invites free interpretation. Individual works stand together as equals in the overall framework – from fingernail-sized drawing snippets to wall-filling installations.
In this way, the works open up on a formal level to a multidimensional experience. They invite the viewer to approach them from all directions – from the overall picture to the smallest detail. The often delicate, fragmentary drawings remain deliberately permeable, suggestive rather than explanatory. Figures appear shadowy, stories vague – thus offering the viewer space to project their own feelings, thoughts, and narratives.
What is conveyed is a basic mood.
