ENTSTEHUNG I 2023
We grow, we flourish, we go through phases. We are continuously transforming. And so does the world around us. A flower sprouts, grows, blooms and spreads its seeds again — until its life circle repeats itself in this way.
This artwork is part of the series Natura Morta - Still Life - Stillleben.
While the three artworks that form the series all deal equally with the theme of „constant transformation“, each of the works represents a different phase in the eternal cycle of life and death.The works are linked by a poem that connects the pieces in a wider framework - the cycle of life and death.
Suffering
A last scream in pain
Muscles cramping
It stops breathing, beating, pumping
A vulnerable being collapsing in the wild
Fragile bodies transforming into corps
Sinking into a soft bed of moss
Covering up its broken bones
Like a warm woolen blanket
It absorbs the life
We get told
Is leaving the vacated body
But in a way
It suddenly is dead no longer.
The bodies bones, skin and cells
Dissolve, sink in the earth
Like a seed sprouting in the soil
Coming into being again
We think of death as the absence of life
But are beginnings reliant to an end?
MEANING
The poem also provides a narrative of the stage in the cycle of life and death that the art work Entstehung is aiming to depict: After life has left the remaining body, a process of decomposition begins, known as autolysis. Certain enzymes help dead body cells to dissolve themselves. Often, however, parasites such as worms and maggots accompany the decomposition process. As a result, the body, which was previously thought to be lifeless, decomposes autonomously or with the contribution of parasites, and thereby forms the basis for new life. As the body‘s decomposition products are released into the soil, nutrients and minerals are released, creating optimal conditions for new life. There are also various religious beliefs which support this: According to the Christian faith for example, at the funeral of a person it is customary to throw earth three times into the grave of the deceased symbolizing that the person comes from the earth and returns to the earth after death. This gesture is underlined with the words: "Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.“
Although all the materials used for the object (wood and wool) are dead materials, they can nevertheless represent life. The artwork Entstehung deals in particular with the idea of new life emerging from death. Likewise, the use of dead materials plays with this concept in a figurative sense. Especially the fragile leaves of the tree, on which the poem was UV printed, emphasize this principle. There is poetry in reading about decomposition and dissolution, while some of the poem‘s letters are already decomposing themselves. In some time, the leaves and the print of the poem will no longer be in the same physical condition they are now, as the decomposition continues to take its natural course.
DESCRIPTION
The work consists of a tree trunk that has already lost its bark. While brown felt is intended to imitate the dead bark, green felt cords and embroidery represent individual sprouts that are starting to develop on the decaying outer layer of the tree. Green woolen threads wound around the trunk of the tree represent plants growing on the soil and gradually making their way around the trunk. Placed on the ground, the tree trunk is positioned vertically. It reaches a height of about one meter and measures a diameter of about twenty centimeters. The felt textile attached to it protrudes over its lower side onto the ground. The positioning of the artwork gives viewers the opportunity to look at it from all sides and thus better recognize various details and the three-dimensionality of the felt.
TITLE
The title Entstehung derives from the phase in the eternal cycle of life and death that the artwork is intended to represent: After the life escapes from the body and it subsequently decomposes, the emergence of new life occurs. The German word for Entstehung was chosen, as the name of the piece is intended to emphasize its affiliation to the Stillleben ั Natura Morta ั Still Life series, as all the artworks in the series have a German title. Once again, this decision was based on the piece Entfaltung. In addition, the connection to this work is further emphasized by the use of a word with the same prefix.
