INTERWEAVE, INTERNETWORK, INTERCONNECT
I have always had a loving eye for paper. In an earlier phase of my work I had already used foreign newspapers with their different characters of the local language for my flying carpets and other objects. On forays through the streets, back alleys and thrift stores I collected a variety of used paper. The haptics and aesthetics of the diverse materials delight and inspire me. They have turned into the primary source of material in the last four years for my work. Atlases, hiking maps, wallpaper sample books, sheet music, books with statistical and log tables, textbooks, listings of stock market values from daily newspapers, picture books and handwritten materials such as sheet music, exercise books, letters, diaries or children's drawings. Such “floating debris” that is increasingly becoming obsolete, so to speak, due to the digitisation of our world is now also being brought to me for my collection of precious raw materials.
As part of my initial research and development, I set myself the daily task of reworking one double page of a discarded art catalogue by painting, drawing, writing, pasting materials over the original pages. In the attempts of joining different additional pieces of papers without glue I gradually discovered the weaving technique with paper. Did the first weavers discover the weaving technique in a similar way? As I stumbled on the principle technique of traditional weaving, more stable structures developed. From then on, my weavings naturally developed as independent pieces outside the numerous catalogues I recreated with hundreds of pages that I reworked through play and experimentation.
From 1997 onwards, envelopes in Switzerland were printed also on the inside to protect important contents from being discovered by looking through the envelope. Their tiny patterns are reminiscent of men's shirts. As I was fascinated by the surprising variety of these security or safety envelopes, I started collecting them. However, a good ten years passed before the creation of the first object using security paper. In the first experiments with the envelopes wonderfully three-dimensional creased forms emerged, unfortunately very fragile. I would have liked to shape larger structures with envelopes of several square meters.
By carefully cutting the envelopes to expose their inner details, straight and curved white edges appeared around the windows and clasps. I integrated these beautiful details into collages and used them as a background for the bird drawings. This created a new connection between the hand-drawings and the industrially manufactured structures of the envelopes.
Since I was still also busy with my flying carpets at that time, I traced traditional oriental ornaments on to a variety of my collected papers. I then sewed the individual cut-out pieces together into larger structures.
The weavings, mentioned already, became finer and denser over time. A work stretching my patience? No, not for me. The aesthetics of the paper, always different and new, the color nuances, attracting my attention, the connection to an ancient craft, the peace and quiet to think about cohesion, stability and networking all occupy me endlessly while I am working creatively. They give impatience no chance.
Since I have been dealing with weaving, I notice terms where “weaving” is used in a figurative sense, especially when connectivity is the central element. For example, the World Wide Web (WWW) uses the concept of woven tissue to promise global networking opportunities.
Interestingly, Mahatma Gandhi led India to independence with simple domestic weaving and spinning. The activity he propagated created the greatest possible human cohesion among the peaceful protesters. At the same time, it demonstrated the prospect of economic independence with a simple technology accessible to all. It was an ingenious social achievement to unite a huge and diverse country with many different cultures during the protests: That is why the spinning wheel was depicted on the flag carried along with the protests. It was proposed for the Indian flag in 1947, but was then replaced by a 24-spoke wheel. But if you ask Indian people, the wheel is still the spinning wheel.
Paper, flat by nature, is a challenge for a sculptor. I explored different techniques to make paper into plastic objects and create a three-dimensional effect: By piling up individual, but similarly shaped woven parts, resulting in towers up to 60 cm in height. Or, as inspired by relief and intarsia, by weaving wide strips with creases into the otherwise flat woven paper objects. Or, after their provisional completion, by severing several strands of the weavings, resulting in indentations and protruding paper stubbles, especially when several layers were cut through.
The photos of the work in the portfolio show the development chronology. It begins with the first free works with arbitrarily inserted papers and shows the further processing of various raw materials.
However, the photos represent neither the plastic, the three dimensional aspect, nor the haptic satisfactorily. I would, therefore, like to invite you to an analogue visit where you can experience both. In the rooms of KUNST IM REIHENHAUS there are also loose ornaments that can be freely layered and laid out for the public.
My objects can be placed in a variety of ways: leaning against a wall, laying on a floor, floating from a ceiling, hanging over a door, spanning between or around a corner. Special interventions can also hide unwanted features
