Arnd Kaestner - "tapes"

Opening: Friday February 11th, 2005. 7 pm
Duration: February 12th — March 24th, 2005
Opening Hours: Tu—Sa 12—7 pm

Yellow and black, red and white, every now and then, black and orange – the colour combinations for barrier tapes are limited, but their presence in daily life is ubiquitous. They cordon off danger zones. Arnd Kaestner paints these kinds of tapes on unprocessed MDF. The illusion is so confusingly well executed that the viewer mixes up representation with reality. The tapes seem to envelope the board: the more so because board´s consistency has the necessary depth; and the shiny surface of the colours, painted on in various layers, reflects the quality of plastic ribbons. Yet the main intention is not to exhibit an artistic capacity for creating illusions: because of the way the stripes stretch over the surface and the structures that arise, the perceptual accent gradual shifts to the visual quality of the presentation.
The bands give rhythm to the surface and, depending on the space between them, bring either calm or nervousness to the image. In particular, where the tapes appear to overlap, the danger exists of the eye getting lost in complex structures. This visual speeding up or slowing down is typical for Arnd Kaestner’s work.
With his pictures, Arnd Kaestner appears to break away from conventional painting. He gives his attention to trivial materials, and nothing in his technique leaves a trace in the image that hints of his artful handicraft; however, the identity of the material is, ultimately, just simulation. With images of standard, industrially-produced materials, Arnd Kaestner creates a point of connection which is – in the sense of the demystification of artistic mediums and their usage – neither directed outside of the image presented, nor at the problematic relationship between art and reality. His interest is aimed far more at creating autonomous pictures, where the colourful and structural unification by means of the interaction between two colours leads to a dynamic rotation in front of the viewer’s eyes.