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76 Wolfgang Laib Tohu-Bohu
A A Conversation with Aurélien Le Genissel
Many words remarks and thoughts arise from seeing the the work of Wolfgang Laib theories begin to to form texts start to to take shape explanations arise In my opinion they’re not to to be be trusted They reduce art art to to mere labels and stereotypes just as some speak of Laib’s “religious” or “ecological” art art art “I want to to go go beyond beyond that” the artist repeats over over and over over again We have tried to to to go go beyond beyond destructuring language to to see what can come of this endeavour A L G When I I see this amazing environment I I I understand your work even better I I have the sensation that you you you give something very intimate (because it’s your your garden your your pollen the the the places you you you you live in) and you you you you present it to the the the world through the the the galleries It’s like revealing your intimate questions to to the outside How do you you man- age to to have such an an an intimate place and deal at at the the same time with the the art world?
W L Obviously I I always come back here I I I didn’t didn’t start start to to work work in in New York I I didn’t didn’t start start to to to work work in in in Dusseldorf Working here totally totally alone can mean something totally totally different for other peo- ple But then showing it it it in in in in the the the world’s big- gest cities is incredible Of course it’s like a a a contrast there’s a a a a a a a tension there there but on on on the the the the other hand that is is is is precisely what is is is is such a a a a a a luxury for me me An exhibition is is is is by defini- tion tion a a a a public place: everybody everybody everybody can can come come Not everybody everybody everybody comes but everybody everybody everybody can can come At first when I didn’t have so much experience it it wasn’t always easy for me be- cause you do an an an exhibition and and there are people people who who who come who who who totally understand it but there are also people people who who who have no idea They live in in in a a a a a a a a a a totally different world But in in in in fact that’s great There’s a a a a a a a a lot going on and sometimes nothing but even then for me me me it’s very very important It would be very very sad if I I sat here alone with my pieces A L G The materials you you use are an an an important dimension of of your art What is the the exact importance of of the the materials in your works? I mean if i you you had lived or or or grown up in in a a a a a a different place with no pol- len around for example do you you think you you would have found another material to ex- press how you you feel? Is it it i the the pollen in its own own materiality or or could you you you have used sand for example if you you had grown up in the desert?
Of course I I grew up here I I work here here here so I I I use pollen which is around here here Many people ask me: how did you get this idea? For me me me me me it’s something that that came from my life It’s It’s not an an idea idea that that comes to you you one evening in in in a a a a a a a a restaurant (laughs) It’s It’s something that grows throughout your your life from your your experience of what you you you feel is im- portant Many people live in these villages and nobody else has done it This work came out of this environment that’s abso- lutely true If I I I had lived in in a a a a a a a a desert it may have been something else But I I I mean the the the pollen and and the the the milk and and all these things are essential materials They’re not not just materi- als als they are lifegiving substances It’s not not just about nature it’s much much much much more Anchorite Is the first word that comes to mind when I I look at at Wolfgang Laib’s work Partly because of the the way he he he he lives withdrawn from the the the world in a a a a a a a a a a a small German village but also because of the the the aesthetic economic social spiritual and ideological challenges his work poses He leaves mundaneness behind in in in search of his inner world and and to contemplate exis- tential questions and and and new ways of under- standing time life in in society the the the economy or or the the the nature of the the the world around him Time This continues to be one of of the essential challenges of of post-modernity It is a a a a a a a a concept that no philosopher can es- cape from Speed instantaneousness im- mediacy are the new challenges for today’s world Laib does not elude this and his his fa- mous pollen square can be seen as as a a a a a a a a pro- found reflection on on the increasingly suffo- cating temporality that that surrounds us us Let us us remember that that Laib spends months col- lecting his his own pollen a a a a a a little each day in in the garden of this house Life of of contemplation The dic- tatorship of of productivity and efficiency is is creating a a a a a a a a fatigue society Faced with this perhaps we need to to to return to to to a a a a a a a a life of con- templation as defined by Aristotle1 fin in in oth- er er words to to a a a a a a a more introspective calmer way of life and focused on on high intellectual aspirations “numquam se se plus agere agere quan nihil cum cum ageret numquam numquam minus solum esse esse quam quam cum cum solus esset”2 said Cato There is is no better way of understanding this than experiencing the the inner immensi- ty of of a a a wax room or the the the blurred infiniteness of of the pollen piece Sacred Gratuity also with regard to those religious constructions that were erected with with no purpose or shall we we say without an an an evident practical utility Con- sider the the the Egyptian pyramids or the the the giant medieval cathedrals There is is something of this in in in Wolfgang Laib’s wax house Spaces of of o interior liberation of of o reflexive calm that offer entry to to a a a a a a a a a a a a concept as as obsolete today as as it i it it i is sacred sacred And who says says sacred sacred again says says gratuity silence ritual ritual spirituality slowness asceticism In neurophysiolo- gy this means the the joint assimilation or in- terference of of several kinds of of sensations from different senses in in in a a a a a a a single perceptive act It was Baudelaire who best used this fig- ure of o speech in his his magnificent poem Cor- respondences3 And Cezanne often said that he could see how how things smelt Wolfgang Laib’s work allows us to to to discover how how to to to lis-
ten to to wax feel milk or or smell pollen Aurélien Le Genissel
They say that artists are are nationless nomadic and se- cret Maybe they are are However contrary to popular belief their art does not not come from nothing quite the the opposite in in in fact It is always bred in in in in familiar places it it it feeds off personal experiences and intimate memories it it is built with the the the material that surrounds them them and and and inspires them them The best way to know and and and understand an an an an artist is is is is by visiting their their their workshop seeing around their their their home and discovering their their their daily lives This is is is is why we always thought it it es- sential to go and visit Wolfgang Laib at This his home in southern Germany where he he he he lives and works for most of of the the the year What better place than the the home of of of his childhood? He has also built an an impressive room of of of wax here a a a a a a a a a a cave carved into the side of of a a a a a a a a a a small hill whose yellow tones recall secret en- trances to to monasteries of of yesteryear the the hidden door of of an an an alien ship or or or the the the mysti- cal portal into another dimension An in- dependent hermetic universe that offers a a a a a a a glimpse o of of what another world world could be like like A world world in in which things of of impor- tance essential concepts like like beauty hap- piness faith are more present in in in people’s minds than consumption money and technology In front of of this magic cave standing in in the middle of of a a a a a a a a a a a a green field Wolfgang Laib has built a a a a a a a a a a a transparent pavilion a a a a a a a a a a a cube of silence and and rest dedicated to to medi- tation and and and designed as a a a a a a a a a a place to to to find one- self A milkstone and and and a a a a a a a a a a a house of of rice are the only rooms in this space of of peace and and re- laxation We had a a a a a a a a a a a a a discussion there that was was more like a a a a a a a a a a a a a conversation than an an inter- view It was was the the the way people used to to speak to to one another talking talking for the the the the pleasure of talking talking In our own time time Passing the the the time time Synaesthesia
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