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101
Masterpieces
Opus 88
Black Belt
Eclipse
HAW, 2005, Museum
of Modern Martial Art
About
the
Work
Over the
past centuries, no work of art has evoked more unqualified crticism
and lack of understanding than the here presented exhibit. However,
a thorough contemplation from an educated beholder willing to
expand his horizons can hold up to ridicule any disparaging
comment.
Already
after few hours, initial feelings of familiarity give way to the
experience of an unknown abundance of forms. Overwhelmed by the
power of the opus, the viewer feels lost in a multiplicity of
possible interpretations. This work cannot be consumed
superficially, rather it has to be explored and is virtually longing
to get
conquered.
The on first
glance dominating visual homogeneity turns out to be a dexterous
optical illusion, intentionally employed by the artist as a
main stylistic device for unveiling his
message.
While the
inside of the painting is governed by a plethora of monochromatic
circles and curvatures, symbolizing specific techniques of various
martial arts and the bound form of the belt, its borders to the
outside world are characterised by straight and angular motives,
portraying other techniques and the belt in its rolled out
state. It is this very contrast from which the painting
generates its increasing
dynamics.
Soon, the
wrongly assumed quietness explodes into a massive spectacle of
fighting sequences, into
a
demonstration of highest physical and spiritual energy density,
unsurpassed and going beyond the imagination of any action movie
choreography.
The
lavish absence of technical means, which may elude the
untutored eye but is present in every part of the picture, meets its
counterpart in the self-assessment of the pseudo
budoka. Hardly imaginable is the underlying diversity in
perishing forms, acting as a proxy for all martial
arts, which the painting is capable to indicate in manifold
ways. Thereby the work stands refreshingly out against the weary
daub of some Rembrandt or Van
Gogh.
At the
same time, the composition's proportions make several up to now
axiomatic design principles obsolete, thus paving the way,
away from
obtrusive tinkering with forms and colors, towards a pure contentual
dimension of the subject-matter, without ever concealing or even
mentioning its appearance. But it is not justified to speak of
an extended generalisation of abstract suprematism. Motivated
by the title of the work, the Black Belt Eclipse, its interpretation
as a complete or partial belt will be misleading. Similarly, the
blackness clue is not relevant because one could equally assume a
white belt, yellow belt, or any other belt
eclipse.
Such a projection
makes all belt levels visually indistinguishable. Nothing
distracts from the fact that anti-masters and anti-students unmask
themselves by their performances, which are born by their respective
levels of
dilettantism.
The extravagance of the abandoned initial interpretation
visualizes the overvaluation of the first impression, produced
by the label, i.e. the belt, and simultaneously offers no way out of
the so generated opinion vacuum. Thus, the work plays with
expectations without neither disappointing nor answering
them. It brings to mind one's own biases about skill
hierarchies mapped onto color palettes and encourages to
critically neglect
them.
One waits
eagerly for the darkness giving way to brightness and, for
inexplicable causes, revealing a well-defined paint, the so called
rank, with the belt as its palpable
materialisation.
Without the belts' forced interpretations, it is
no longer possible to unequivocally deduce the awarded grade,
thereby triggering off a firework of multifacetted possibilities.
The fellacy of infering from the color to the real skill level can
be perceived in its entire
relevance.
This
phenomenon will not be diminished, not even after repeated
viewing. We are becoming witness to an inherent, itself
permanently new inventing illusion which, without any substantial
changes, gives birth to ever new hues, eventually producing a
self-convinced black from familiar void. The circle
of color-pregnant incompetence closes and reflects the events
in anti-dojos and
anti-associations.
Short
Biography of the
Artist
Already
in his early work, the artist developed first rudimentary
concepts of his later masterpieces, which time and again faced
lack of appreciation and
rejection.
Eventually he distinguished himself in the field of beef
sausage etching and toothpaste litography. Having finished his study
of graphic art with a thesis about meandering liquid
manure aesthetics, he made a name with groundbreaking
works in theoretic passepartout glossing, which he called an
indispensable prestage for his artistic
ontogenesis.
In 2005, the "Composition with Green, Green and
Green" was awarded the sponsorship prize of the Society for Most
Modern Art, thereby establishing the financial foundations
for the master's further creative oeuvre and
a Porsche.
The
international success brought multimedia
follow-ups, culminating
in
a stage
play, three ringtones, and several talkshows. Early on, Hollywood
bought the rights to the work. Hitherto it was regarded as not
screenable, but now progress in computer imaging rendered the
project
feasible.
Interpretation
Hints
Usually
it is difficult for the beginner to apprehend the picture as a
whole. Therefore it is helpful to separately analyse
individual parts and then combine them. Thus the initially
infinite set of possible interpretations will be more than
halved.
Academically fertilized art
historians appraise this work as a logical and
long overdue consequence of broken monitor video
installations and the
acclaimed french fries fat mobiles.
However, the focus in always on the meaning
of the Black Belt Eclipse as a placeholder for the concept of double
negation, i.e. the cover-up of the anti-budoka's ingrained inability
by means of the very symbol embodying the master level, the
blackness, which the present work is able to visualize as the only
artefact in the history of human
cultures.
Finally,
apart from being a huge intellectual asset, this work is a rich
visual feast, redefining the cornerstones of modern aesthetics
and leading art into the next
millenium.
© 2007 SWV +
TDI |
