ptokyo

source: baloise
Karsten Födinger received the Baloise Art Prize at Art Basel 2012, for his “Defensive Reinforcement” installation, which referred to an important event in the history of Basel: the devastating earthquake of 1356. Födinger stabilised and blocked the interior of an exhibition stand in equal measure, using wooden beams, and created an earthquake-proof sculpture.
Födinger is a sculptor who makes site-specific sculptures that do not try to mask their creation process. His spatial structures are mostly made of simple building materials and visualise the fundamental forces at work during the creation and stabilisation of three-dimensional bodies. His sculptures, which combine architecture and sculpting, feature contrasting poles such as stasis and movement, support and loads, diagonals and horizontals, and mass and voids.
And Födinger has remained faithful to his customary style of designing site-specific creations with his Struttin’ exhibition at the Baloise Art Forum. In addition to several photographic works that vary the exhibition theme, his sculpture creates a link to the renovation work being carried out at the Basel Head Office, such as as the form language of the entrance hall. Födinger uses simple building materials for his powerful work, such as steel beams, metal mesh and plaster, and has created a paradoxical, suspense-packed spatial structure with this installation as well.
In an interview he explained how this sculpture was inspired by his period of study in Detroit. The Michigan Theatre was designed in the French Renaissance style, opened in 1926, had a capacity of 4035 seats and closed in 1976. In 1977 it was converted into a multi-storey car park. When parking there one can still admire the magnificent stucco ceiling and one can also see relics from the past here and there, such as curtain shreds.
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source: zerodeux
Karsten Födinger, né en 1978, vivant et travaillant à Karlsruhe, œuvre à partir de données élémentaires (espace, architecture, structure, forme, matière) susceptibles d’être ce qu’elles font et de faire ce qu’elles sont. Karsten Födinger avançait récemment qu’il ne revient pas à l’artiste d’être l’auteur exclusif de ses pièces mais également à l’espace d’exposition.