Sculptures made of paper, colour, fabric and wax | 2019
Invented? Found? Narratives and stories as the final relaxation, starting point and location of experimental works and new ideas. It does not matter whether the idea for the work leads to the story or the story leads to the idea for the work. The focus is rather on the freedom of a self-created context in which, consequently, nothing can be ‘wrong’ but only right, and which creates the most liberated and creative atmosphere possible, from which artistic and experimental results and works can emerge just as freely.
Inventing and telling stories is as old as humanity itself. Stories create explanatory models regarding the world, ourselves and beyond. Stories pass on experiences, insights and provide cultural identification. Stories can make complex content tangible in all its ambivalence and, as a mirror, help us to understand ourselves.
As creations of our imagination, which go beyond us and take us to imaginary places and scenes of longing, stories are also able to take us away from ourselves and disinhibit us from always thinking in the usual ways – in this way they bring us new ideas, playfully open up new approaches to our creative and inventive potential and help us to think beyond familiar materials and techniques.
And that was precisely the aim of the course ‘Exploring Experimental Fields’.
In line with this aim and the development of individual narrative frameworks at the beginning, the results ultimately represent ‘artefacts of fictitious cultures, ways of life, rituals, methodical approaches and stories’
Artefacts that go beyond their function as a form of ‘loosening up’, but also present themselves as a highly topical critique of those ‘alternative facts’, ‘sound rumours’ and ‘fake news’ that are pushing the world to the brink of rational argument today.
Furthermore, the exhibition is to be read as a ‘collection’ of artefacts and their narratives as a critical postcolonial quote to those ‘Wunderkammern’, curiosity cabinets and ‘anthropological displays’ as we have known them since the early days of the museum and some of which still exist today.
In this respect, our ‘Wunderkammer’ also aims to inspire looking, laughing and marvelling – but as a ‘punk’ Wunderkammer, it also aims to inspire critical reflection.
(Text by Daniel Zaman, source: http://www.textileforce.at/artefuckts_alternative-fakten-und-stichhaltige-geruechte-kultureller-nachweise/ )
Work shown:
Die Mogsnypolium speciosum N.H. is a species of cotton magnolia. The specimen exhibited here comprises twelve flower petals in stages I – VI, four legumes in stages II – VI, three fruit shells in stages V – VI and one fruit. The plant parts were found in October 2018. The location is secret because the plant genus has been thought to be completely extinct for a long time.
