When too perfect, lieber Gott böse. (“When too perfect God gets mad.”) [Nam June Paik]
In this body of work self-made 3d figures from clay are being used as models in 2d lens-based still images; this process has parallels to painting.
How many criteria of a 3d tangible object or situation must be represented in a lens-based depiction of it so despite the abstraction (colour, scale, 3d to 2d) it will be readable to a human being?
How do we visually perceive a 3d tangible object? Looking at a tangible figure, are we actually able to see it in 3d or do our brains perceive a 2d image? Vice versa, when looking at a painted or photographed figure, does our brain translate it into a 3d image?
This work also questions the topic ‘ownership of art’. What is the substance of visual art? Its tangible material or the information obtainable by looking at it?
Is it necessary or even possible to physically and legally own art, and if so: which part of it do we own and how does this manifest itself?
Do we need to possess the actual work and if so, how often do we need to view it, or do we actually no longer need to view it at all, after we bought it, or is it stolen if someone else sees it?
Do we own art by looking at it, or by remembering what we can of it after having looked at it?
Do we only own what we remember?
Alice in the dark (2015/16)
Agnes with black ribbon 4 (2016)
Josiane Keller “Agnes with black ribbon” (2016)