serena amrein + alexander konstantinov
the large transverse wall in the exhibition hall in friedberg-ossenheim, unbroken, in one piece, gave serena the idea of defining this unlimited, empty, free, huge area with a black line, drawing a horizontal line across the entire area, integrating the wall, giving it a strong presence with this division, a determination. serena dares the wall to take away its charisma, its freedom and emptiness. the wall becomes the surface for serena's architectural drawing. in front of this particular black band there is an in-front-of and a behind, an above and a below, imaginations, movements. after this spatial impression of wall and band, there is a second look at a white drawing over the entire length, the trace of a white, powdery line, of a rope that was evenly twisted at an angle during production. the optically black and white line is almost straight, and if you look closely, you can see that the line with a total length of 12m consists of 24 parts, which are marked with finger-width sections, giving the band an even rhythm, the section uses the white wall as a mark, allows recognition of the thickness of the black wooden panel, allows the 24 sections of the band to be seen, a rhythm to emerge. the black and white line of the powdery rope stretches across everything, in calm movement. the rope rolled in white chalk powder is the tool for this impression on the wall. all of this was preceded by another practical insight. a 12 m. long black band with a drawing cannot be built or transported in wood, it does not fit in this hall, except in parts, here, as described, in 24 parts.
this great vision of the black band on the empty wall, as a wall division and even as a possibility for an imprinted white line, but now its realization in many steps, initially using known means, but here confrontations with and insights into unknown areas, techniques, tools, paths of implementation, that's what distinguishes verena's work. they are not great, because their great vision is made possible in realistic, careful steps, in parts, with joy, with ready-made materials, including the camera and the computer.
in the exhibition she shows her large chalk line works on canvas, on paper, also working sketches. in the paper works, grid systems, grid cuts, the mutual dependence of positive line, the paper strip, and negative space, the section, becomes clear. the important interval, the pause.
it shows a tall, narrow, multifaceted wall object. here she breaks open a large, narrow box, shows the construction process, which was usefully created for a use that is alien to her, opens her drawing again in the middle, her trace of the paint-soaked rope. marked, useless now for its originally intended use, deliberate and beautiful for serena's art object. "london line."
we show this together with some complex artist books, large handprints, plans, photos and sketches by alexander konstantinov. he was an architect, a landscape architect, as an artist he had many projects in public spaces, libraries, the university. he realized installations for international festivals in europe, russia, england, usa, japan and other countries. we will project a lot of this from books. the topic is grids, lines, forms.
he finds these every day, as a means of finding order in chaos, like the iron doormat, annoying as a place for tax returns, welcome perhaps with wedding announcements. the grid as a constant, almost identical repetition, this is becoming more and more appropriate with the ever more perfect means of digitization. as a rhythmic field in the music, the notation, the lines of writing, the exercise book, arithmetic book, bookkeeping. the calendar, the seating arrangement. etc.
he seems to combine the old with the new. we say pejoratively in the visual arts:“made old,” in music with the interpreters who realized the recordings of old music we do not say this pejoratively. in religious customs, rites, in medicine, science, probably not in old recipes either. here one is proud to be able to make the old. an artist like konstantinov draws very precise forms, combines them with literature, like in the portfolio kanzlei with the stories by franz kafka, and here he is serious and investigative, inventive, ironic and at the same time revealing by showing how he creates the apparently old, the stained, produced as a drypoint etching by the finest hatch marks. in his architecture, city and landscape interventions, this irony is implemented as a doubling of the basic elements. the construction lines of a building, here a neo-baroque palace, there a block of flats are transferred 1:1 onto huge transparent film with colored adhesive tape, he essentially pulls the construction as a linear structure from this building, and thus also from its status and utility and gets the construction back like a form.
as a transparent wall it can cast shadows, you can look and walk behind it. the marked film becomes op-art. he sometimes built the construction out of wood or metal rods for public commissions. at festivals he sometimes put such“patterns” on squares or across lawns.