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

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.