Escaping the Illusion (June 2022)
Escapism, innocence and Horror constitute the basis of my work.
My thesis is: being faced with harsh economic realities my generation tries to escape this harsh truths. I‘d say the natural coping mechanism to reject adulthood and all that responsibilities that come with it is prevalent today. However this leads towards a split-up society which at the same time consists of esoteric escapism and existential threat.
Thinking about art the ideal I encountered unfortunately consists of the idea of the Übermensch. Monumentalism, aethestic perfection and economic exploitation are mainstream now. In my opinion art for the masses are not leading towards a more liberal, democratic culture but an emotional and political state of agitation.
Personally I want to revive the individual romantic artist as an antithesis to these empty ideals and do believe artists like Gauguin, Shunsuke Matsumoto, and Hans Poelzig offer a view of art that is not based on economic power but cultural progress.
Beauty is the source of evil (October 2021)
- The rise of social media has led to the tendency to present aesthetically, perfect pictures. Especially in the context of art this means we do have a huge environment that forces art to be beautiful and punishes ugliness. This is bad because our art will be judged upon visual pleasure without any discussion about content. In short theres a rise in mannierism, illustration and cliche narratives in the art world. Basically that means goodbye free (and good) art
- Id say for example in germany conservative (meaning academic and thus boring) beauty is linked to reactionary politics or reactionary attitude in society. This new conservatism leads to art that emphasize classical and traditional anachronistic cliches or escapes in the realm of popular contemporary design. Even though artists like Gerhard Richter managed to link beauty and artistic progress I`d argue we lost the concept of progress in arts since we are trapped in a cycle of improving beauty instead of questioning the status quo of our culture.
- Thinking about sexism and beauty I very much oppose the current trend that sees male painters painting their wifes as a sign of political oppression. First of all it is natural to paint persons that are meaningful to yourself. Then very often this paintings are works of inncocent and romantic love. This is not a bad thing at all. Universal Artistic Beauty can develop out of this. However It is my honest opinion that the current focus on female art is a political thought and art should never be directed by political intentions.
- Last but not least the thought of monumental beauty is a scary one. It is a current trend that art is becoming more immersive and overwhelming. This is bad when you think about the implications. The private and direct dialogue through art is being substituted by art for the masses. This is a dangerous direction since masses demand entertainment without any critical thought. If we continue this way I guess our culture will become something like an ìnstant gratification without deeper reflection. This would contribute to the devaluation of our culture and society.
Do aesthetic social media presentation and educational mandate of art contradict each other? (June 2021)
I think so! If there is no adequate differentiation of cultural work and entertainment.
I see a rise in popular methods in the art world. Meaning art is produced in order to attract as much attention (or popularity) as possible. This is bad for our society since the intrinsic methods offer no possibility of development and have a negative impact on people. I see a rise in emotional, seperating, sensational, aesthetically pleasing and overwhelming content. Theres a bonus if you follow current trends.
This is contradicts a thought orientated culture meaning the devaluation of content and art in general. Bad side effect is the disappering of critique and confrontation.
In conclusion it is my strong conviction that we need new individualistic artists that challenge the systemic hollowness with new narratives (!). In short: the story is back [¬º-°]¬
(based on a Twitter exchange with Kunsthalle Karlsruhe)
Thoughts on exhibitions with political intention (June 2021)
I think politication and idealisation of art is bad. The institutional valuation of art (and it´s reputation) could be manipulated by private interests or economic power. Thinking about current art I would agree with Daniel Richter that the romantic artist is needed again. As I embrace the error as a hint of being human it is an antithesis of the current trend of perfection and monumentalism.
The artists that focuses exclusively on one owns economic status neglects all the other possibilities art could offer. Including questions about morals and humanism. Thus moral, social and transcendental problems are neglected and cultural progress narrows down to economic success.
Thoughts on NFTs? (July 2021)
It`s awful in many ways! While it is necessary to view art as independent from medium I think the focus on sole technological innovation is a false promise in the realm of art. Furthermore there many very real problems with especially this new kind of digital ownership. For me the most important aspects are negative environmental impact and the dependance to highly volatile pseudo-currencies
Speaking for myself there are much more efficient ways to engage with digital works. Questions about legal status, conservation and documentation make me take a conservative stance. My matter of choice is still the analogue ownership.
What is your opinion on social media and aesthetics? (May 2021)
In my opinion social media and the new rise of the masses led to a crisis of art and culture. I’d say it is a misstake to believe that art should become popular and thus entertaining. As art is getting more popular the content has to be dumbed down in order to be interesting to more people. However there are certain dangers: focus on emotional response, lack of critical thinking and the focus on ecomomic power.
Looking as the aesthetical forms are getting more refined I worry that we aim for a culture that is to idealistic. I would call it “Über-Kunst” as it’s ideal is a perfect aesthetic which does not have any place for the human error.