Olaf Stüber

Drik Meinzer

15 Sep - 26 Oct 2007

Drik Meinzer
Lächler
Sep 15 - Oct 26, 2007

DISAPPEAR TO ART / between la gioconda and undine

: among the pickled (siren-)foetuses + bottled bones, engaged in
perfecting the catalogue, i found the last scion
(...)
SALUTATION
o generation of the thoroughly smug and thoroughly uncomfortable,
i have seen fishermen picnicking in the sun,
i have seen them with untidy families,
i have seen their smiles full of teeth and heard ungainly
laughter.
and i am happier than you are,
and they were happier than i am;
and the fish swim in the lake and do not even own clothing.
(ezra pound, personae, 1926)

i see the fragmentary character of the world today with its prismatic
nature of truth as a chance, not a threat.
(alexander kluge in spex magazine 09.2007)

TEXT FOR MEINZMANS BERLINER SHOW of sa(u)vage sculptures (formerly:
bioactive subjects) e.g. gruselkitschmännchen, thats a soaptwerp, fingernailcarved, with a fluffy head and carrying a peacockfeather, the furry fings (mixed media painting, small dead animals like mice and moles, marmels and other things), self performing grocery woods and landscapes, made from french fries, potatoes and silver tinsel, a siren/sea cow-video and pointillistic water-colours, (self-)portraits of (smiling) wood- and watersprites: the lächlers

as a zeitgeist alchemist, dirk meinzer (dm) is working in the
intersection of myth and reality, studying famous and creating his own chimaerae, his nexus being the sireniae, both muse and (very tasty!) seacow.
their singing lured him repeatedly to africa (tanzania) where he lived, worked and very nearly found the halicore dugong - and, luckily for us, he brought back with him the first "lächler" paintings, small collages of slain mosquitoes, hot glue, felt-tip pens and fluorescent "nite-glo" kids paint.

one main quality of dms work is EMBRACE: to go-see and assimilate the
unknown (poiesis) - meeting the strange, eating it up and producing
beautiful art - all the same whether in tanzanias rufiji-delta, frances dordogne or hamburg-st.pauli, he lives this european enlightenmental idea of recognizing oneself in the eyes of another (rimbaud, lacan) and liking it, laughing about one`s own unfitness: everything ends in laughter.

the other stimulus of course is lamento, georges batailles` transgression/excess and even ciorans disadvantage of being born - but always, short before disintegrating, a smile pops up and the unsuccessful work gets touched up - disappearance and the prospect of failure lead to a fresh start - the original vital dimension of ones existence is the fear not to qualify ?

anyways, back to the show at hand:decomposing and restructuring as a work principle can be seen in the food forests/landscapes, made from spaghetti, pommes frites, tomatoes... which, been layered with bookbinder glue, color, christmasglitter and innumerable other materials for years, grow and change, decay, evaporate with a big stink, remodeling themselves while ageing and inviting on their way to shipwreck flies, funghi, and other lifeforms to root and make themselves a home in these works of art
- they finish themselves (off) :-)

in the end once again the lächlers: these daymares, delicately modeled graces from the underworld, metaphysical mixing creatures in the tradition of paul klee and max ernst dance on the thin line of beauty and age
(vanitas?) –

they murmur to you of arcadia

facetty sunpatterns through raindrops

mona lisa grünwald

ur-ritual christmas

i`m off then
 

Tags: Max Ernst, Paul Klee, Alexander Kluge, Dirk Meinzer