PROUD PHOTO BOOTH BY OLIVER RATH ... - Proud magazine

finable in many ways. Especially with
words… to describe something like
beauty is ridiculous.
You are working with many different
kinds of materials. Are there subjects
predestined for collages and others for
being paintings?
Predestined…no. Maybe. I don’t really
know. I think the way that I work is less
determined. I don’t usually start with
a clear ‘theme’, but the physical act of
moving things around, either collaging
or collecting or drawing, and then
making reactions to those actions. And
then as the work develops, the content
also develops and becomes something.
A lot of work I have been doing the last
months has just been note-taking, and
the notes have taken the form of drawings
which maybe then become something
else later. Most times when I have
set out to make a work- like seeing a vision
of a painting or something and trying
to execute it- it is a complete failure.
My work is better when it presents itself.
When I am just working and… there it
is. It’s the act of recognizing something,
when it is starting to work. Sometimes
the visual content and the intellectual
or emotional content are married and
when they are, it’s magical.
What is your favorite piece of art and
why?
I would say I have 4 or 5 thousand favorites.
It just depends on where I am.
For instance, if I am in London I go
straight to the national gallery. There is
this painting from Hans Holbein, ‘The
Ambassadors’, this very large painting.
It is a painting I cannot look at without
saying to myself: “What the fuck!”. It is
perfect in everyway…and then there
is this strange skull coming out of nowhere
in the foreground. It is one of the
strangest anomalies in the history of
painting up to a certain point.
And right now there are a few of Goya’s
etching from ‘Los Capricios”. They have
maybe 14 of the 80 total etchings from
that series in the Gemäldegalerie right
now. They are very stunning pieces. I
have been looking at those every week
or so since they have been up. They are
a perfect mix between their factual existence
and their content. Every single
one is funny and strange and technically
perfect for what they are talking
about. Sometimes the visual content
and the intellectual or emotional content
are married and when they are, it’s
magical. And because I have been doing
these rough prints, it has been helpful
thinking through the process.
Do you have a favorite from your own
work?
There are certain pieces that signify a
way of thinking very clearly, and those
are the best for me. Usually they are
not the “best” works, but they are somehow
more personal and honest. I make
a lot of work and sometimes it is less
personal than what I would want. But
then you so see those examples and it
really feels honest. Yes, I like looking at
those works. That is why I love painting,
and why it persists- it lives in the same
time that we live…
Do they change? Your favorites?
For sure. All the work that I am making
now is too close to judge or have a relation
to. I can’t really see what it is. Five
years from now I’ll be able to. You realize
only after time what you learned
in certain periods or with certain works
and how you are using that knowledge
now- that changes the opinion of earlier
work. I am able to respect some
things I have done in past, where I was
never able to do that before. That is
why I love painting, and why it persistsit
lives in the same time that we live, it
can always grow. And the understanding
of a painting and of work can grow.
Picasso once described art as rebellion.
Is there art without a message?
I think not- it is impossible to have a
work with nothing. There are many interesting
artists and writers who have
tried to make work about nothing, but
it seems proven by their work that it is
impossible. To be as flat as possible, flat
in the sense of humor, or to make really
boring work or really passive work is
extremely difficult. But this is even still
about something. I do think, however,
that you can make work that thinks
through the concept of nothing- or
nothingness. But the question of message
here is maybe more about intent,
and in that case, again, it is impossible,
somehow.
When does a painter become famous?
I think it can happen when a painter
creates something that really teaches
someone something- it could be as banal
as to appreciate this thing (zeigt auf
einen Stift) better, to see it differently.
But especially when the painting made
can be seen in a way that clarifies it’s
own existence. It is some form of solid
communication. And if it turns the
mind then you at least have the potential
to become famous… No, I guess
that the potential as I am describing it
is more to be known and respected and
used. And that is the important thing
because that is really the history of
mankind, learning from everyone else.
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