more colour - more space
Watertoren Contemporary Art, Vlissingen, Netherland 2004
Three installations at the Watertoren
The German artists Boris Doempke, Rita Rohlfing and Achim Zeman have each produced an installation which engages the architecture of the Watertoren (water tower) in dialogue. All three artists have painting as a point of departure, and from this they have chosen space as the vehicle for form, light and colour. This choice originates in the limitations of painting, which lends itself excellently to meticulous observation but does not set the observer physically in motion. By working in space the artists invite the public to move around or inside the work and in space. This leads to the adoption of continually changing viewpoints. The work evolves into a multiplicity of works which can never all be seen at once, but reassembled only in the mind.
The approach adopted by Boris Doempke, Rita Rohlfing and Achim Zeman combines the mental process of perceiving with physical activity. Not only can that lead to an intensified experience, but it also resembles more closely our most common everyday manner of perceiving. In this way the experience gained from the work of art can be more flexibly translated into our daily life. The three installations are an esthetic experience in their own right, but they can also sharpen our visual awareness so that the observer may well look at the world around him differently, perhaps more critically.
With their work the artists join the modern tradition in which, more often from painting than from sculpture, decisive thrusts are given to the investigation of the visual aspects of the space surrounding us. One of the first to set this phenomenon in motion was Theo van Doesburg, who wrote in the '20's of the last century: 'There emerges a relationship between colour and space and between man and colour. Through the movement of the person relative to space there evolved a new experience of architecture, namely the experience of time… The creative Space-Time Painting of the 20th century enabled the artist to realise his great dream of having people stand in the painting and not before it.'
Unlike the affinity that the present exhibitors feel with predecessors such as van Doesburg they do not delude themselves that they can change society. The artists of 'De Stijl' and the constructivists also announced themselves in manifestos. Doempke, Rohlfing and Zeman concentrate on their plastic work. If they are able to contribute to the strengthening of their public's visual awareness then they have succeeded in their task.
(…)
In his installation 'eingekreist' ('circelt') on the top floor of the tower Achim Zeman reflects the form and the previous function of the water storage unit. With stripes of paper and foil on the wall and floor he emphasises the circular shape of the space. The stripes are applied diagonally, in alternating deep and light blue. This makes it look as if some stripes are farther away than others. The observer is put off balance. This effect increases if you walk through the space and do not suppress the inclination to follow the off-centre spiral form which intensifies into a vortex. If you fix your eyes on the wall you soon correct the diagonal stripes to the horizontal; and then if you look at the floor again it seems to slope away towards the vortex. Such disorienting effects are wrought by purely optical, artistic devices. What is special about this installation is that without any pictorial allusion Achim Zeman physically evokes the phenomenon of water. Water attracts, but it is also menacing and dangerous.
There is another aspect manifesting itself when you realise that the space you are in is a sort of 'skin', besides the skin of your own body or the clothing you have on. From this perspective the installation carries the idea that the feeling you have is determined by the perception of the skin enveloping you or the world you live in.
Although Achim Zeman's works in space are always abstract in character, human nature is always central to his art. This is evident not only from the effects produced by his work and the meanings associated with them, but also in his working method. He designs his installations with meticulously executed models and drawings in which form, composition and ratio are precisely fixed. In the final implementation however, he regularly modifies the design; man is more important than the system.
Nico Out
Three installations at the Watertoren
The German artists Boris Doempke, Rita Rohlfing and Achim Zeman have each produced an installation which engages the architecture of the Watertoren (water tower) in dialogue. All three artists have painting as a point of departure, and from this they have chosen space as the vehicle for form, light and colour. This choice originates in the limitations of painting, which lends itself excellently to meticulous observation but does not set the observer physically in motion. By working in space the artists invite the public to move around or inside the work and in space. This leads to the adoption of continually changing viewpoints. The work evolves into a multiplicity of works which can never all be seen at once, but reassembled only in the mind.
The approach adopted by Boris Doempke, Rita Rohlfing and Achim Zeman combines the mental process of perceiving with physical activity. Not only can that lead to an intensified experience, but it also resembles more closely our most common everyday manner of perceiving. In this way the experience gained from the work of art can be more flexibly translated into our daily life. The three installations are an esthetic experience in their own right, but they can also sharpen our visual awareness so that the observer may well look at the world around him differently, perhaps more critically.
With their work the artists join the modern tradition in which, more often from painting than from sculpture, decisive thrusts are given to the investigation of the visual aspects of the space surrounding us. One of the first to set this phenomenon in motion was Theo van Doesburg, who wrote in the '20's of the last century: 'There emerges a relationship between colour and space and between man and colour. Through the movement of the person relative to space there evolved a new experience of architecture, namely the experience of time… The creative Space-Time Painting of the 20th century enabled the artist to realise his great dream of having people stand in the painting and not before it.'
Unlike the affinity that the present exhibitors feel with predecessors such as van Doesburg they do not delude themselves that they can change society. The artists of 'De Stijl' and the constructivists also announced themselves in manifestos. Doempke, Rohlfing and Zeman concentrate on their plastic work. If they are able to contribute to the strengthening of their public's visual awareness then they have succeeded in their task.
(…)
In his installation 'eingekreist' ('circelt') on the top floor of the tower Achim Zeman reflects the form and the previous function of the water storage unit. With stripes of paper and foil on the wall and floor he emphasises the circular shape of the space. The stripes are applied diagonally, in alternating deep and light blue. This makes it look as if some stripes are farther away than others. The observer is put off balance. This effect increases if you walk through the space and do not suppress the inclination to follow the off-centre spiral form which intensifies into a vortex. If you fix your eyes on the wall you soon correct the diagonal stripes to the horizontal; and then if you look at the floor again it seems to slope away towards the vortex. Such disorienting effects are wrought by purely optical, artistic devices. What is special about this installation is that without any pictorial allusion Achim Zeman physically evokes the phenomenon of water. Water attracts, but it is also menacing and dangerous.
There is another aspect manifesting itself when you realise that the space you are in is a sort of 'skin', besides the skin of your own body or the clothing you have on. From this perspective the installation carries the idea that the feeling you have is determined by the perception of the skin enveloping you or the world you live in.
Although Achim Zeman's works in space are always abstract in character, human nature is always central to his art. This is evident not only from the effects produced by his work and the meanings associated with them, but also in his working method. He designs his installations with meticulously executed models and drawings in which form, composition and ratio are precisely fixed. In the final implementation however, he regularly modifies the design; man is more important than the system.
Nico Out