Krafftmalerei :
Complete Impression 7

The cooperation between the wellenklaenge lunz am see festival and Public Art Lower Austria entered its ninth year with a visit to Lunz by the artists of Krafftmalerei. Previously realised works and projects (inter alia, by Francesco Mariotti, collabor.at, Deutschbauer & Spring, Georgia Creimer and Aleksander Petlura) had already provided an insight into the formal diversity and range of subjects involved in approaching a community. Krafftmalerei immediately attempted to explore several of these possibilities and to reflect on them using different media. Alongside a light installation on the opening day of the wellenklaenge lunz am see festival (on 6 July 2012), the work complex Complete Impression 7 completed during their residency in Lunz comprises a postcard edition, a documentary film and a closing concert on 29 July 2012 and, first and foremost, a sculpture park whose exhibits and their locations were developed over the course of their stay. In this sense, Krafftmalerei is following the tradition of the notion of the Gesamtkunstwerk but without any claim to be complete — not claiming uniqueness and without the generation of myths around the notion of the individual artist.

This is why Clemens Denk, Philipp Hanich, Thomas Weinberger and Jonas Geise regularly expand their collective with other artists, and deliberately flirt with the employment of the artist's portrait as a topos, as was also the case in the oversized opening projection when they had their likenesses hover over the Lunzer See lake. Together they are driven by an overwhelming interest in the dynamics of various forms of expression — regardless of whether painting, sculpture, film, photography, music or an installation that combines all genres is concerned. Even in their numerous "Retreats", trips abroad and excursions in the past, Krafftmalerei have always been engaged in the doings and goings on on location. The aim was to identify as far as possible with their new surroundings and to leave traces. "We want to take this opportunity to erect sculptures in different locations that we find suitable in the course of our stay, sculptures produced using the possibilities and materials available to us. Here the dream of a Krafftmalerei Lunz am See sculpture park can come true", in the words of Krafftmalerei. Previous interventions with art or performances in Lunz have been temporary in nature with a defined duration, but the Complete Impression 7 sculpture park is intended to provide a reminder of their presence in the community beyond the duration of their stay, until the sculptural manifestations disappear by themselves. This kind of work in progress without any insistence on existence for perpetuity is characteristic of works by Krafftmalerei. At the same time, the inscription of their own work into the landscape means occupying public space with this artistic position. Accordingly, the Complete Impression 7 can also be regarded as a metaphor for the energy of the art-creating mind, oscillating between exaggerated self-confidence and a marked inferiority complex.

Krafftmalerei (Clemens Denk, Philipp Hanich, Thomas Weinberger, Jonas Geise), founded 2005 in Linz. They live and work in Vienna.
(Martina Zadrazil)