Through Industrial Romanticism, I have developed a concept over the years that reveals modern humanity in its fragility: as a member of the technological and information age, yet striving to live self-determinedly. Alongside my extensive photographic works, these objects and installations form the core of my artistic practice.
Originally, my goal was to transform German Romanticism into the visual language of our contemporary era, thereby revealing the depths and shallows of the German soul. Meanwhile, the scope has broadened and become universal: The overpowering, transhumanist industry, solely committed to profit, demands a redefinition of “Romanticism“, which succeeds when contemporary humanity – especially against the backdrop of “German Romanticism” – completely severs old notions and ventures into a new romanticism: trees and branches become metal girders, leaves become heavy iron screws, and dilapidated church ruins transform into neo-sacred spatial installations using 21st-century materials.
The works are at times violent – 21st-century humanity is wounded – yet also poetic, creating tension through their serial arrangement or the dialogue between heavy screws and delicate glass.
In the beginning, there was a lack of money. Frames were needed for the oil paintings or drawings. The many construction sites in Berlin, with their enormous quantities of remnants and waste, drew me in like a magnet. From the mountains of trash and construction containers, I extracted aluminum profiles, sheets, and plasterboards: hard, massive, bulky – yet elegant.
Now, the supporting actors became protagonists: I combined materials such as screws, construction and packaging materials, glass, sponges, and various metal objects – partly enabled by extensive material sponsorship from the Würth Art Foundation – into minimalist installations and objects that, through a geometric, reduced formal language, reflect how our aesthetic sensibility is influenced by the technologization of our immediate environment.
Example: The Industrial Tree, a collapsible “tree” with pill strips as “fruits,” which the modern nomad can take anywhere (fits into a slim Samsonite suitcase). It effortlessly replaces boring mass-produced art in hotel rooms or Airbnb apartments – the tree can be hung on the wall in two minutes.
