I remember the moment
and the connected feeling quite clear, I was walking to an art show opening
(nothing special, somewhat at südviertel) and I was stuck by the finding
that I was there on my own, free, unexpected, without schedule. these
moment are rare, when you are all by yourself, doing what you want without
anyone knowing or telling about it. a pure sense of being, going with
the flow open to offered gifts of the world, being tankful for hanging
out in this city. do something without heading for a result without keeping
an eye on the watch (as your schedule is tight), just some random actions
off the grid. usually, the südviertel (and frohnhausen) is a great place
to step off the daily ride and reconnect with yourself.
last friday matthias danberg and me managed to come back to our classic
at isenbergplatz. a date we have been waiting for over weeks because we
have something to celebrate: I finally put out ‘hyperalterations’
and matthias added a music video for ‘reginals
disclosure’. a soundtrack for spring, calling for summer. maybe it
is once again a attempt to take control or add something beautiful to
the world to make it a better place.
however, our collaboration (once again) is an attempt to make out artistic
work happen apart from the art scene. it is quite stupid that artists
can only be seen (or taken seriously) when museums, galleries or labels
decide it. there must be something more, I like the idea of taking control
and to act parallel to the classic system without copying it. so this
time I take the label seriously, bring in collaborators (also hoping for
x-promo), do a piece of music which could be read a s art as well and
create a great video for it. it might be quite old-fashioned to do so,
but recent platforms do not really present content…
matthias has started a podcast on art with tim cierpiszewski in which
they will mansplain you into nirvana. (listen to the first episode over
at youtube)
we have also considered doing a podcast but I once again turned it down
as it is a serious production I do not want to do as I still prefer to
produce music when I am producing. a podcast is just another way to do
something in parallel to create and exhibit. just another podcast (keep
an ear on it), you read about it in another blog. wait, who is still reading
blogs these days!?
as there is always schedule and duty I do not like to spend the holiday
somewhere else, I like to hang out at home and get my world structured.
nevertheless, we did a quick return to van bommel van dam in venlo,
to enjoy the recent shows and have a nice day in the city. the museum
had s group show called ‘it´s not a joke’ on display featuring a lot of
funny art. indeed, we were not happy with the title, because it was funny
and it did not really work out something beyond that.
I am recently sending contributions for future show but I have to admit
that a lot of these things are badly drafted and curated. you cannot come
up with the best work, you have to come up with a fitting work to a main
topic which is actually lame or meaningless. I am considering to do a
solo show again…
however, lets have a look at the joke show, which held some discoveries
for us.
agata siwek installs the inside of a tiny chapel into the smaller rooms
presenting the leftovers of ‘the merciful beaver’. what if a beaver would
have cut down jesus christ´s cross to deliver him? is this a flat joke
or blasphemy? is this a true act of mercy preventing resurrection (short
before easter)? I think it is funny as it is not making fun of jesus.
and it also illustrates the this lame alternate story ending not worthy
to start a religion on it.
jesus left his cloth, the nails and the crown of thorns behind. the stations
of the cross appear inverted, jesus is rescure by the beaver, rethinks
his options, uses the beaver´s smartphone to order some new cloths. well,
the story drifts info some childish narration. and yes, it was not made
to be taken seriously. maybe it is an attempt to think about what would
have been without christ´s prominent death, and the remarkable change
in historic development set up by tiny actions.
a piece you could easily miss by rushing through the show: ryan gander
presents a life-sized mouse sleeping close to the wall. the text says
that the little artificial mouse is also breathing gently, it did not
do when I observed it. the title ‘take confidence in your abilities’ helps
a bit more to get the great idea of this small and cute sculpture: the
mouse must fear to be hunted and killed by humans or their cat, this mouse
is confident. It presents itself sleeping in the absence of fear. we know
that fear is a mechanism that saves your live, too much fear keeps you
from living it. maybe the mouse is hyperbolising it (even if we do not
know it what kind of ability makes it so confident) but it has point to
think about and maybe learn from it.
we had the mouse, and here is the cat: the retrospective of giselle kuster
shows her work as a painter. he actually mastered a wide range of influences
and styles, I was wondering if I like the stylistic range, but I cannot
answer it by now (I can see my own portfolio mirrored in the transformal
approaches). the cat, by the way, looks like swantje, the white fur has
turned a little grey by frequent prowls through the gardens and her eyes
are still striking yellow.
kuster´s banal motive of cloks, impressed my, it is a so familiar motif.
I could imagine of a jeff wall adaptation, but, wait – I could do it.
lets see, if I can create something.
the last time we went to van bommel van dam back in the last days
of 2024, we discovered a little later that the former building of the
vbvd was now used as place for drinks and food. our plan was to return
after the art show visit, to our surprise the MOUD was closed with a paper
telling that they went out of business. we were pretty disappointed and
I was wondering who would turn off a money-printing machine… nevertheless,
this beautiful place was not profitable enough.
my last post on my disappointment of bad live jams and low streaming/selling
of the recent album and therefore questioning the future of architects
of utter destruction lest some irritation among readers. when I returned
to stage in langenberg (or ‘LA’ as we like to say) some people asked my
what is going on. it might have been a little bit too dramatic, this is
what happens if you put out something in a bad mood. you have to accept
that things go wrong when they are out of your control. nevertheless,
the night in LA brought me back, even when my sound was bad and my performance
just okay, it was great to be surrounded by all of these lovely people
and getting some applause. we will return!
architectsofutterdestruction.com
some refound images of my improvised hdj set at bkg in summer 2024. I
was just asked to put up the sound system to make the spotify list drone
over the people, all of this crap did not work and we had to improvise
a set which turned out to be working surprisingly well. I planned to return
as I realized this annual celebration was cancelled. well, nothing really
matters these days. however, I am looking forward to the upcoming shows
in may. I just hope that it will be half as good as I want it to be… cross
your fingers, come around, it is going to be great.
michi told me to check this in the garden, a great snail appeared on our
runway, a lot larger and more beautiful than the snails that usually come
up here. I guess I have seen these big ones with a house in luxembourg
before… however, we decided to rescue it before the cat would discover
(and eat) it. the snails are alright.
update 2025-04-19: my mother and me did an annual and obligatory
trip to xanten, a place we both enjoy very much. I cannot even tell what
it is, just a restaurant with view over the lake, the beautiful cathedral
with the pre-easter wrapped in purple crucifix and the candy shop, of
course. maybe the ice-cream bar. It is a great place somewhere on the
flat land with a long history. everything feels familiar by know. only
the long road home is a real pain in the ass, why does everyone else also
have to travel!?
update 2025-04-19: I did not really realize the 21x21 exhibition
until a museum director told about it in phone call. after talking about
it with her, I realized the postcards and posters advertising the show.
21 ruhr area based museums have teamed up to present parts of their collections
in the rooms (halls) of villa hügel. we decided to have a look at the
show on good Friday instead of driving to a museum in the netherlands
which means more struggle. this teaming up of titans is an instant happy
end for the super rich. to be fair: the show works out perfectly, the
rooms are perfect for the exhibited pieces, why did they not do it earlier
or keep going?
update 2025-04-19: the work of björn dahlem does not mean much
to me but it is easily recognizable and holds two meta stories: I discovered
dahlem back in 1999 while I was learning ‘art at the turn of the millennium’
by heart. his name and birth year appeared in the book making me realize
that he is just some years older than me and already having a proper career.
(I would have to push it a little bit more, how naïve was that?). the
other story is finding laurent montaron credited as photographer of one
of his installations. montaron´s work shook my world, and here is just
the supporting guy.
I do not want to say something bad about dahlem´s work, I like the improvised
and rough appearance, he is instantly recognizable. the exhibited piece
was called ‘moon’, michi stated that a moon does not shine by itself,
the idea of reflection or orbiting a planet is not represented in this
piece. it remains pretty unconvincing to us.
update 2025-04-19: from the same 1999 ‘aattotm’ days I know about
jessica stockholder. back in the day I considered myself as a painter
slowly becoming a photographer or ‘image producer’, her discipline of
large installations and assemblages were pretty much out of my spectrum.
nevertheless, I had a strong fascination for her work for being so powerful
and happy, there is also something funny and inviting in it. this is probably
the first time that I saw a stockholder installation in real live. a smaller
and older one giving a glimpse of whet she can do.
now in 2025 I have also added multiples to my portfolio, her work might
have been a door opener but I trace my inspiration back to laurent montaron.
update 2025-04-19: michael sailstorfer was not on my list. his
car wheel chopping of tire particle while it hangs spinning on the wall
makes the room smell like rubber. I have a strong fascination for animatronic
sculptures, moving plastics, new and magic stuff. on the other hand I
am also sceptical about it as these works are so surprising and ‘different’
that make you wonder while forgetting to ask yourself if this is art actually.
this question peaks in the work of jordan wolfson, and I do not have an
answer to this question. art? fun fair? special effects? decoy flares?
no idea. the fascination remains.
update 2025-04-19: I have been to villa hügel one or two times
but I do not remember much. I guess I have never connected with this place.
I feel that the villa is hilariously oversized, it feels like it is four
times as big as is should be and made for being of six meters height.
The region is coined by the krupp dynasty, taking care of their people.
on the other hand there is also WWII, armaments production and further
profits. it feels contradictive on so many levels, the economic power
to sustain society and to keep a war running, social ideas while living
in a large house in a large park up on the hills above the baldeny lake.
summing it up, I guess it is okay to work for your money and earn it and
it is good to have a little bit more than you need. but walking through
the (horror vacui) ornamented halls of the villa made me feel like being
in a stably kubrik movie. if you lick the monolith you may wake up in
here. at a certain point I had to laugh out laud, this size, these ornaments
and material, this vulgar display of wealth appears ridiculous at a certain
point. it is too much of everything. just too much.
am I going to return? probably. I have to question my findings in a future
visit and this gardening perfection and globally relevant local history
is also part my own history.
summing up, we cannot deny the influence or the coining or the making
of the ruhr area and our settlement, it is history that cannot be divided
into black and white. it is a phenomenon apart from simple good and bad.
the godfather´s steal was the material of the upcoming industrial age,
as basement for a while century and beyond. with all the black stains
and innovations.
update 2025-04-21: I´ve almost forgot. before entering the van
bommel van dam in venlo it was obligatory or impossible not to check the
electronic labelled records at sounds venlo. the prices are high but I
found a gem in sale box: ‘secret garden’ by µ-ziq & mrs jynx was on my
list after discovering mike paradinas with ‘expert knob twiddlers’ (which
was unfortunately quite disappointing to me) and ‘bantha trax vol.3’ by
tusken raiders (with this beautiful cover and these boc and afx vibes).
unfortunately the record did not include a download vocher but the planet
mu website says: we no longer include a download code inside each record,
but if you email us with proof of purchase we will send you one.
I dropped a friendly line to tom and received a bandcamp download code
no twelve hours later. the photos above are just the pictures I made to
proof my purchase, must have been convincing, nevertheless it was the
truth. ‘secret garden’ is a s beautiful as its cover, unagitated and great
in composition and sound.
I never experienced a label responding on my email, maybe I should send
them a demo!?
sven piayda | mff40
WIDERBORSTIGES PUBLIZIEREN - 40 JAHRE MFF
museum für fotokopie, mülheim an der ruhr
2025-05-15 – 2025-06-29
opening 2025-05-15, 6 pm
museum-fotokopie.de
friedrich-ebert-straße 48
45468 mülheim an der ruhr
sven
piayda | plato was sad
AURA
2025-06-07 – 2025-06-29
opening 2025-06-07, 6 pm
kunstvereinduisburg.de
kunstverein duisburg
weidenweg 10
47059 duisburg
sven piayda | aftermath
KURZstummfilmfestival
zeche carl, essen / youtube, worldwide
2020-09-26, 3pm at zeche carl
2020-09-25 on youtube
kurz-stumm-filmfestival.de
'aftermath'
on youtube
youtube.com
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