all the plunder makes me wonder
Series of photograms
Cyanotype on paper
70 x 50 cm each
Series 1 / emblems : 15 pc., 2021-22
Series 2 / bottles : 15 pc., 2022
Series 3 / cocks : 15 pc., 2022
Series 4 / boobs : 15 pc., 2022
All the plunder makes me wonder (how I keep from getting under) is a series of photograms using the cyanotype method. Objects are placed directly on or in front of the paper, coated with a photo-sensitive solution. The imprint they give off is a graphic reduction of their form and position, as distant or overlapping objects appear blurred to obscure. Due to the different textures and positions, the visible elements create a gentle spatiality between them, and open up space for symbolic interpretation.
Examining the relations between the cyanotype field and the objects that cast a shadow on it, these works shine a light on the means of representation and symbolism. How objects transition into shapes, how those drawings are read as symbols that represent gestures, and how this constellation is linked to our identification with things.
Beyond their specific character, the reproduced motifs speak of the abundance of things, tools, toys, trays and trash as part of our daily lifes. The featured objects essentially belong to a pool, a set of items which can be found at any specific place, such as the studio, the kitchen, a street or a district.
slideshow below
Photogram exposures
maculature / makulatur
Series of prints
80 uniques
Lyrics, silkscreen print on re-used paper
32.5 x 22.5 cm
2018-20
The short texts, written predominantly in english, are following the structure of modern day song lyrics reminiscent of pop music.
Spanning poetic, dream-ish and polemic statements, their content also keeps a level of vagueness, briefly touching the reader and let the inner voices sing, before the message trails off into a muddle of colour and shape. What exactly they are telling of remains apparitional and swaying, just as the prints themselves.
The slightly vapour-esque look is reinforced by the paper printed on, or rather the re-use of it. Consisting purely of maculature – misprints, discarded, spare and waste papers – the image carrier itself is a reverb of former events and aesthetics. The series is a sort of nostalgic trip, where other messages are printed on, and somewhat occupying the preexisting visual culture.
slideshow
Selection of prints
Acrylic, wire, silkscreen print on polystyrene
Acrylic, wire, silkscreen print on polystyrene
Rope, tie-down strap, silkscreen print on EPS Inst. view at syntax exhib. with Roman Sonderegger, 2015
Acrylic, wire, silkscreen print on polystyrene
words
Text objects
from Sag es mit Sagex - series
Silkscreen prints on EPS
Various sizes
2015 / 2020
A body of work that deals with the single word as a container. Inspired by the nature of words, their etymologic roots and the way writing works, a word as a single object can mean different things depending on the context of a sentence.
This interplay is translated into the three-dimensional, where composition starts to become synonymous to syntax, and words "mean" on their own within their position.
Inst. view at Werkschau 15 | photo by Thomas Knellwolf
Inst. view at Werkschau 15 | photo by Thomas Knellwolf
Inst. view at Werkschau 15
Inst. view at Werkschau 15 | photo by Thomas Knellwolf
writer´s block
Installation
Silkscreen print on polystyrene, printing ink
60 cubes of 40 cm
2015 / 2017
Imprinting letters on polystyrene, the paint etches its way through the expanded material, re-transforming the symbol into a ripple, a sound.
Each block consists of at least one word, depending on where a reader would begin, and in which direction. According to the space, the installation can vary in size and shape.
As part of the Bachelor´s diploma at HSLU in 2015, more than 50 blocks formed a garden of columns, in which visitors could immerse themselves. Due to the cubic shape, the words imprinted on each block can not be read at once, but require the reader to move. in doing so, the many syllables popping up left and right trigger our reading reflexes, igniting a literal dance.
Qualities of the unavoidable mass: City mining (the column)
Performance with relic
Posters, paste, saw, rope
Duration 30 min duration
Book object 63 x 140 x 13 cm
2012
Hello to the age of mass, mass products and variety, mass consumption, masses of people. Pretty much mass-everything. And a good mass always leads up to a mess.
As part of a practical research for new resources in cities (called urban mining), the focus shifted towards advertising posters: On the pillar of a street lamp, they assemble layer upon layer, and grow in diameter over time much like a tree. The rate of their growth depends on the environment, e.g. the club scene. More cultural offers lead to bigger trees. When cut down, the "skin" is a mix of cellulose and water, again reminiscent of wood, while the sticky paste would be the equivalent to resin.
Like a forest engineer who can see events by reading the rings of a fallen tree, the layers of printed papers are equally telling of circumstances of a specific time and place. The poster waste has a double function, also serving as a cultural relic.
berlin book (63 x 140 x 13 cm)
berlin book (63 x 140 x 13 cm)
berlin book (63 x 140 x 13 cm)
berlin book (63 x 140 x 13 cm)
image
Photo from performance at Warschauerbrücke / Berlin, 2012
slideshow
Posters bound as a book-object
Respektiven
Series of 20 - 30 books
Mixed media. Softcover
62 pages, 20 x 15 cm each
2014 – present
During many stages of the creative process, useing paper is necessary to hold thoughts, sketch loose ideas, draw studies, make notes, memos, schedules or as underlay for material tests. The papers (most commonly DIN A4) eventually fulfill their task and scatter all over the place. They can get re-used again and serve as a background, linking new thoughts to old ones. These sheets are the floor on which ideas learn to walk.
Over time, they assemble all the bits and bites that cumulatively make up the content of my artistic research. To give them a common place and amount of space, I started to bind them together in more or less coincidental order. It quickly turned into a series of books, a casual encyclopedia. The re-combination of different apporaches, both visually and conceptually, creates an unforseeable blending of different ideas. The book series proved to be a valid resource and inspiration for my work.
slideshow on top
100 pages from the book series
images below
Books as objects, studio view
it ain´t hover until it´s hover
Bag-collection
Silkscreen print on fabric
ca. 70 x 40 cm
Edition I: 15 pc., 2020
images
Studio and installation view at I AM FOUND WANTING exhibition