From the jauntiness of absence

Book / Catalogues CriticalThinking Artists UteEitzenhöfer FeliciaMülbaier

Published: 08.07.2021

Ute Eitzenhöfer
Natascha Frechen
Wilhelm Lindemann
Felicia Mülbaier
Constanza Salinas
Luisa Werner
Julia Wild

Editor:: Natascha Frechen, Felicia Mülbaier, Constanza Salinas, Luisa Werner

Edited by:: Hochschule Trier

Edited at:: Idar-Oberstein

Edited on:: 2021

Technical data:: 55 pages, 24x17x0,5 cm, 39 pictures. Soft cover, Swiss brochure

ISBN / ISSN:: 978-3-00-067986-5

Price:: from 19.50 €

Order:: From the jauntiness of absence

Inner page of the book.

This catalogue accompanies the exhibition project “from the jauntiness of absence”. Every piece has a story, a journey to become what it is. We believe that objects, drawings, sketches- the things we create while making the actual jewellery, are as important as the finished pieces themselves. Through them, we study material, from meaning. They lead us to the essence of our creations.

Especially at a time when many aspects of our lives that seemed to be certain and secure are beginning to falter, creative spaces are particularly important. Spaces to experiment, spaces where it is allowed to simply observe, without the need for instant evaluation.
For this exhibition, Natascha Frechen, Felicia Mülbaier, Constanza Salinas and Luisa Werner decided to show a selection of their finished jewellery, yet to primarily focus on pieces that evolved during their creative process. Notes and sketches outlining ideas, preliminary models, fragments, samples of materials, the initial approaches they took and how they moved their work forward provide a glimpse into a world that normally remains hidden.
All these creations have one thing in common – an immediacy with such an intensity that it can almost only develop during the creative process. You can feel the magic of what is unfinished, the magic of a lightness that initially does not expect to be seen by eyes other than the eyes of the creator. Therefore, you can take a look at a world that is normally reserved for the creators alone. A fragile and unconditional world that is utterly worth protecting.
The artistic process is always the attempt to clarify, the attempt to find an essence, take a fresh look at things, recognize disturbing factors or trivialities, but it also always implies the need to accept that some paths do no lead any further, or that work has been done on something that ultimately does not reach completion.
Yet it is precisely the search, this invisible attempt to feel one’s way forward to open up new ways which makes this process essential and incredibly valuable. It unlocks spaces where ambivalences are allowed to exist and where we can learn to handle these ambivalences. Spaces where it is clear that most of the time, there are no easy or quick solutions and no marked paths, no patent remedies and no instructions.
To make these normally closed spaces accessible to the public to experience them is a unique approach. It is not just enlightening, but also extremely courageous.
/ Prof. Ute Eitzenhöfer July 2020

Photograhy: Lisa Villinger (for workshop pictures)
Book design: Leonie Vogel.