Arts & Architecture 7QQ3M0
Supervision by Renato Kindt Ralph Brodruck
Karim Jaspers 0961091 November 2020
Experiment
Oil on Linen, 2019 100 x 150 mm Felix-Nussbaum-Haus, OsnabrĂźck
Werner Kavermann When I walked into the room where this painting was hanging, I was naturally attracted to it. Not through its delight, but rather through its daunting and heavy appearance. I sat on the ground in front of the painting and the human figure looked at me - no, through me - in a patronizing way. I immediately felt guilty without knowing the source of this feeling. The human figure demanded for self-reflection and it paralysed me. I had to discover the aim of the painting. From a first glimpse, it became clear that this painting was about the relation between the natural and the artificial world. In the middle of the painting is a simple, orthogonal frame with a small ecosystem in it containing dying trees. This framework is placed on top of the mind of the same human figure who was staring right at me. A further analysis of the painting reveals a great distinction between the two worlds. The golden frame is drawn in ab-
stract isometry, whereas the dark background has a more realistic perspective. The shadows of the frame are created by an unknown source and fall on an invisible ground in the middle of the sky. In contrast, the light source of the human figure is shining from below, returning your focus back to that terrifying eye staring at you. The daunting atmosphere is created by a dark colour palette with dripping paint. What is even more disturbing is the title of the painting: ‘Experiment’. What is the experiment? Is the human figure a participant? Or is he in control of the ecosystem? Perhaps he is even experimenting with me, the person he is staring at. It became clear that the artist wanted to cause a type of self-reflection about the way humans deal with nature. He shows the abstract mind of humankind that is able to create a rational model of the natural world in his head. However,
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due to the use of different light sources, perspectives and colours, he establishes a dissonance between the two worlds. The human figure forced me to feel guilty about how I was thinking about the environment. However, I also began to feel something else - anger. The painting was presenting a problem about the circumstances we are living in, however, it did not provide any solution. The abstract framework was merely confirming the current situation and it was not in search of an alternative future, a way to improve upon the existing. That is why I felt so paralysed. Through this painting, I started to become interested in the feeling of uncontrol. It is a feeling that combines guilt, passiveness, unease and unresolved responsibilities into one. It is in between being in control and fully out of control. It is at the boundary of paralysis and activism.
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In Control The first step I logically undertook when I felt paralysed was finding back control. Here, the different orders are established that research the relation between control and wilderness.
Wilderness
Control in Wilderness
In Control
Wilderness in Control
Classifying these different approaches is an act to get in control, even when the subject is wilderness. It turns out, that creating contained wilderness can be a rational activity as long as it is classified as such. All of this was a safe and tangible practice. The results were comprehensible and still too rational. What if we loose control for a second and find the opposite viewpoint?
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Out of Control The artworks shown here do not resemble any abstract concept or symbolic representation. They are no rational activities, but purely physical ones. The artworks are productions of thoughts that are out of control. However, it was not paralysis that created these shapes and colours. The source was rather a powerful form of incomprehension. It was a strong, unconscious feeling of surrender that resonated through the paint. Finally, it has become time to connect the two opposites through a series of models and drawings. The feeling of uncontrol is central in the research.
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I. Heavy Harmony
Reversed Roles Natural earthwork supported by Artifical framework
Materiality Authentic roughness Cultivated evenness
Unstable equilibrium Tension through mass contradiction Tipping point
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II. Fragile Forces
Silver Lining Liquidity alongside erosion
Materiality Distant textures Source and product
Self-Destruction Harmful intentions
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III. Natural Dissonance
Parasitic Relation Unity through dissonance Systematic overgrowth
Materiality Ancient, floating earthwork Unrecognizable, abstract framework
Figure-Ground Fixation on distinctive parts Interconnection through separation
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Entering Uncontrol
Natural Decay Fragility and strength Order in disorder
Materiality Opposition of the same material Unrecognizable texture and shape
Abstract Restriction Geometrical containment Control of the organic
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Materialisation of a Hyperobject Karim Jaspers
The organic and the artificial environment are drifting apart. The Natural Dissonance between the two worlds is increasing. Right in the middle of the discourse is the human mind. It evolved from a surviving animal species to an abstract being that has distanced itself from its environment. And now, the human mind is in uncontrol. It does not know which side to choose. This feeling of uncontrol has been researched in this portfolio through both arts and architecture. It is a feeling that unconsciously plays a central role in the current sustainability discourse. Climate change is so enormous and frightening that it causes both paralysis and activism. Sustainability can be seen as a ‘hyperobject’ - an entity that is so immense in temporal and spatial dimensions that it transcends the human ability to understand it in its entirety
(Morton, 2013). This explains the paralysis that I felt when I was confronted with the initial painting. At first, I tried to combat it with rational thought, but in the end, I had to surrender. When I accepted the feeling of uncontrol, I was able to return to the source of these unconscious thoughts through creating artworks. Rationality was shut down, and expression took over. The ‘paintings’ were a result of impulsive actions, such as scraping charcoal, lighting the paper on fire, submerging them in water or injecting them with ink. Through art, I was able to visualize unconscious sensations. The next step was to take the essence of the paintings and turn this into architecture. This was done by materialising the feeling of uncontrol. Architecture became a three-dimensional manifestation of sensations through the interrelations between textures, masses
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and balance. The feeling of uncontrol became even more intricate and tangible through architecture. Solutions started to take shape. This is not exclusive to the field of architecture as the arts are able to seek for solutions as well. However, arts mainly provide a direction or vision, whereas architecture is closer to a practical, materialised solution of these visions. Even though the hyperobject of sustainability is still unreachable, the feeling of uncontrol is very present. By surrendering myself to incomprehension, I was able to find a materialised representation of this intricate emotion. Paralysis has turned into a confident feeling of uncontrol. Moreover, it provides a direction in finding a new balance between organic and artificial. I am now able to stare back at the eye of sustainability and think about solutions instead of problems. Morton, T. (2013). Hyperobjects - Philosophy and Ecology after the End of the World. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Retrieved from http://massivelyinvisibleobjects.org/
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Karim Jaspers November 2020