THE ANCIENT WORLD – ROLE MODEL AND INSPIRATION? German-Polish open-air event for sculpted figures at Schloss Trebnitz from 28 July to 22 August 2021

Monika Szpener (née 1979), studied at the University of Toruń where she also did her doctorate. Her specialist subject is the reconstruction of large-format spatial structures (Re-Design and Site-Specific Art).
Monika Szpener (née 1979), studied at the University of Toruń where she also did her doctorate. Her specialist subject is the reconstruction of large-format spatial structures (Re-Design and Site-Specific Art).

Beauty is in the proportions of the limbs, of one finger to another, of a finger to the wrist, to the palm of the hand and of all the limbs to one another.

Perfection depends on the many numerical ratios and is determined by the smallest deviations. 

Polyklet

 

 

It is still unclear whether the Barbarian invasions destroyed the Roman Empire or whether its fall was due to the fact that the Empire had exhausted its potential. Nevertheless, Ancient Rome’s self-referral to Greece was unwavering so that its design language – whether consciously or unconsciously – has remained effective in art. The ancient world did not understand statues as objets d’art which possessed magical properties and fulfilled a function. The most important rule of the ancient canons related to the arrangement and the correct proportions of the works which were built on a square grid. The starting point for curator Marta Wróblewska and the artists present in Trebnitz is, above all, the development process of art which is explained by the multifaceted experience of crossing borders, an event which is combined with critical reflections and with the attempt to place the work in our context in order to reflect its historical origin. For this reason, the classic rules were called into question and experiments were carried out. 

So what do the sculptural works of the 21st century tell us today in relation to the ancient canons and to the works from that era? Well, above all, they force a representation which has to gravitate towards the abstract because contemporary artists use many materials that were unknown in earlier times. The works are often created contrary to the formulae of figuration that were handed down, a fact that is mostly due to the new technical solutions and innovative spirit. Some artists referred to specific sculptural projects, others grappled with the creativity of Gustav Seitz. In doing so, it became clear that the need to express steadfast values grows whilst the sole reality today can only be described using the Bauman[1] term transience, which weakens our trust in ancient mythology. Permanent intersections of relationships and their infiltration, the focus on the creative process and the use of different forms and aesthetic categories of works, left room for many interpretations and provided the opportunity for comprehensive dialogues and to establish emotional ties with the observer, which the curator Marta Wróblewska sums up as follows: “Without crossing borders, there is no vitality in art.”

 

Hildegard Skowasch

Skowasch’s sculpture has the character of a totem. Her “blocky style” suggests that she has been inspired by mature archaism and by the majestic monuments of Gustav Seitz. The head of this figure follows the portrayals of the Roman god Janus, an old man with two faces, who can look forwards and backwards at the same time. Whilst we understand “Janus-faced” in political confrontations not just as two sides of a problem but also as contrary views, the original meaning referred to the power over heaven and earth, over the past and the future. The figure is made from papier mâché and is primed with the magnetic paint commonly used for school boards. The artist provided this surface with a personal letter code in which she communicates with the ancient world. This encrypted text is an intimate type of specific poetry. It is possibly an autodidactic linguistic form which allows Skowasch to assimilate the ancient world in stoic repetitions.

 

Ilka Raupach

Her fascination with the famous Laocoön group and her love of detail led the artist to concentrate on a curl in Laocoön’s mane of hair when creating her work. In the ancient world, hair was an expression of strength. In her analysis of this one element and the need to create an ideal form, the artist does not just attempt to control the difficult material – the ancient oak – she also enters into an alliance with the place at which the work is created. Her sculpture embodies the eternal “search for an unreal and indescribable object” (Ilka Raupach) and can be classified among the Land Art art movement.

 

 

[1] Zygmunt Bauman (1925-2017), Polish-British sociologist and philosopher.

Media library
  • Marta Wróblewska (née 1980), curator of the German-Polish open-air event for sculpted figures at Schloss Trebnitz.

    The art critic, culture manager and author of numerous scientific publications about modern art studied art history and English studies at the University of Gdańsk and is a member of the International...
  • Hildegard Skowasch

    Studied at the Münster Art Academy. She lives and works in Berlin. She is fascinated by the Work in Progress method.
  • Ilka Raupach

    Studied at the University of Art in Halle and at the University of Art and Design in Bergen. She is interested in the area of tension between nature and culture.
  • Iwona Rozbiewska

    Studied at the Warsaw and Munich Art Academies and did her doctorate at the Academy of Art in Szczecin. In her work, she refers to architecture and culture.
  • Monika Szpener

    Studied at the University of Toruń where she also did her doctorate. Her specialist subject is the reconstruction of large-format spatial structures (Re-Design and Site-Specific Art).
  • Norbert Delman

    Studied at the Warsaw Academy of Art under Prof. Mirosław Bałka. Sculptor, performer, installation artist and graphic artist. He is interested in the conceptual presence of bodies in their philosophic...
  • Norbert Sarnecki

    Studied at the Warsaw Academy of Art and did his doctorate in sculpture in 2010. He is fascinated by cosmic forms and predominantly creates monumental spatial sculptures.
  • Roswitha Schaab

    Studied sculpture at the Academy of Arts in Berlin (UdK). She lives and works in Berlin. Her favourite materials are wood and stone.
  • Ryszard Litwiniuk

    Studied at the Art Academy in Gdańsk, was a scholarship student of The Pollock Krasner Foundation Inc., sculptor, illustrator and graphic artist with a penchant for installations and land art.
  • Artist duo Super Vivaz (Lina Baltruweit i Johanes Breuniger)

    Graduate of the State Academy of Fine Arts (ABK) in Stuttgart. Both artists actively campaign against the exploitation of Earth. They create large-format objects and give performances.
  • Susanne Ring

    Studied at the London Royal College of Arts and at the University of Arts in Berlin. Her passions are art and aesthetics in a social and pedagogical context.
  • Darius Müller, Head of the Schloß Trebnitz Bildungs- und Begegnungszentrum e.V., author of the article, Magda Potorska, and the curator of the open-air event, Marta Wróblewska.

    The Gustav Seitz Museum is to the right in the background.