HOME / 2011 Art X Detroit / Hartmut Austen

Hartmut Austen

 

Title: Wedge

Medium: Installation

Year Created: 2011

Hartmut Austen’s installation, Wedge, consists of two walls that form a V-shape and several oil paintings; as well as drawings that are attached to the inside and outside and the gallery wall. The structure is made of wood studs that remain visible. Unlike regular patterns used when framing partitions in architectural projects, the irregular placement of studs varies in one side from another. A platform is installed on top of the junction of both walls. The structure is somewhat reminiscent of the bow of a ship that imaginatively could also be climbed and used as a pulpit, for change of vantage point or play. Wedge is a synthesis of architectures, objects and forms found in Europe and America – for example billboards, playgrounds and German wood-frame houses – expressing linearity, fragmentation and the dynamic relationship of inside and outside.

On a symbolic level, it expresses memory, play and change – things that Austen feels strongly relate to Detroit but also to his own studio practice. Situated in a corner of the gallery at MOCAD, the structure however imparts a somewhat tragic expression, like a ship that lost its ability to move. The pictures, results of imagination and formal investigation, add another layer of expression and possibility. They are based on photographic source images culled from newspapers, Austen’s own snapshots and the Internet. Despite or because of its bulky appearance, Wedge also invites immersion and contemplation. When working on this project, Austen repeatedly thought of Caspar David Friedrich’s Wander above the Mist (1817-18) in the Hamburger Kunsthalle. This is Austen’s reference to him. Many thanks to Graem Whyte for consultation and help with the installation of Wedge.

www.hartmutausten.com