Interview with Michael Kaphengst
MICHAEL KAPHENGST "THE LINEARIST"
"The daily tasks, which I call processes, whether private at work or in free time, are different for every person, so they are progressive, but the fact is that every person is exposed to these processes.
We are all exposed to processes and it is linear."
Can you elaborate on the concept of "consumptive surrealism" and how it reflects the linear process of consumption in society?
I want this to be part of a normal daily routine that everyone experiences every day.
We lie in bed early in the morning and the alarm clock rings. Where did we get the alarm clock from? We bought it at some point, we bought the bed we are lying in at some point, as well as the bedding and the mattress. When we get up and go to the kitchen to make coffee or tea for breakfast, where did we get the coffee machine, the tea or coffee, we bought it at some point. We also bought the bread, the jam or the cheese beforehand, as well as the knife, the cup and the milk for the coffee, so we have to consume them in order to be able to go about our normal everyday life. And so I can continue this forever.
The surreal thing is that we constantly encounter unforeseen situations in our daily routine. If I get up early in the morning, I could oversleep, I could slip on the bedroom carpet, the coffee machine could not be working. Or we sit on the toilet and realize that there is no toilet paper left. To get to work I take the bus and miss the bus, or when I drive to work and can't find the car key. These are situations that everyone is familiar with.
I haven't answered the most important question in my example yet, why do we get up? So that we can all have a job to earn money, so that we can buy and consume all the things I have described to shape our everyday lives.
I can also put the consumer objects in the picture as a metaphor, consumer goods stand for human feelings and experiences, this is another aspect of how I can put them in the picture.
We must not forget the many negative sides of our consumption. Our consumption has contributed a lot to polluting our planet, just think of the many mountains of plastic in our rivers and seas. When you see the pictures on television, some areas look like lunar landscapes because they are completely shattered and polluted, surreal pictures.
How do consumer goods feature in your artwork, and what message are you trying to convey through their surreal representation?
We live in a world in which the gap between rich and poor is becoming ever wider. People who come from poor backgrounds experience a severe lack of consumption, and participation in social life suffers as a result. They have to think about whether they can go out for coffee with friends or go to the cinema, theater, etc.
Education also depends on it, as does leisure behavior
Membership in a sports club or other activities costs money.
The daily struggle of having to make do with little to go about your everyday life is very hard for many people.
I myself grew up in a children's home, when I was born my mother had to put me in the childrens home because it was simply too difficult for her to look after me.
But I'm not a sociologist and I always examine my ideas according to artistic aspects. Maybe my art or my philosophy will stimulate some people to think, then I've already made a very small contribution, but I'm not sure.
But I am convinced that my "consumptive surrealism" goes one step further than POP ART, the consumer world has a strong influence on us and is not just POP.
You've mentioned experimenting with color and shapes to create your styles. Can you describe this experimental process and how it has evolved over time?
First I attended a drawing course with a well-known artist in Emden. There we worked with pencil, charcoal and colored pencils. I was highly motivated and was able to solve all the tasks that were given to me well. I wasn't the best but I wasn't the worst either I would say I was solid. At some point I started buying oil and acrylic paints and of course canvas, but I painted my first pictures on wood. It was cheaper, I still had no idea what it would lead to. Then I started painting my first oil paintings. A lot of what I made is no longer there, a lot of it ended up in the trash. Today it really annoys me but I can't undo it.
Then I decided to do training in the creative field and so I trained as a graphic designer in Minden.
In Minden I had a studio where I painted and experimented alongside my training and then the idea of my “consumptive surrealism” came to mind. I liked that better than "POP ART" "Because the consumer objects and the process of consuming them are not just POP but accompany us every day"
The idea of a “linear process” wasn’t yet expressed, but it was already there in its beginnings.
I continued to pursue the topic of linearism over the years.
What I have always understood over the years of dealing with art is that artists should always have their own style, something that is typical of them, that is more important than perfection.
In “linearism,” how do you decide which motifs to break down into colored lines, and what does this process symbolize for you?
I haven't thought about a symbolic yet
The training I did in Minden was a technical school training, in art class we studied art history.
I knew that POINTILISM existed, when I started to dissolve my motifs into lines in my studio in Minden, I didn't think about symbolism but it was a purely artistic intention, what could it look like if I dissolved the motif into colorful lines and not into points.
For me it was an artistic question, I wasn't looking for a statement.
A curator "Marta Lock" wrote an interesting sentence about my linearism.
"The German artist Michael Kaphengst takes up the theme of the fragmentation of color, dividing it into lines - sometimes straight and well-marked, sometimes circular and sometimes hidden, in order to assert and represent on the canvas his own view of life: one of fate already decided existence."
Marta Lock, LOpinionista (Giornale Online Nazionale di informazione ed Approfondimento) November 2020
Maybe that was a subconscious drive that I didn't realize at the time.
Could you explain the technique of “extreme linearism” and how the uncontrolled movements of your pen contribute to the overall effect of your artwork?
With "extreme linearism" it is very important to me that the pen is moved over the drawing paper in circular movements. It is possible to carry out these movements very quickly or slowly, but always in circular movements, tactilely this is an extremely creative process for me, I can determine the speed at which I move the pen. What I like about the finished motif is the moving dynamic - the whole motif has something moving about it.
Of course, you can also build a bridge to our everyday lives here; there are situations in our lives that we can certainly describe as “extreme”. I want to give an example. A serious car accident could be an extreme process, or a stressful job, or a serious illness.
I've worked a few jobs in my life to earn some money, the tactile skills I had to perform as a tiler are not comparable to those of a bartender. The stress I had behind the bar was extremely extreme, especially when the bar was full of customers.
I always hear from interested people that they like my philosophy in my art, I always say I'm not a philosopher, but as an artist I can be philosophical.
Your “fencing image – absolute linearism” is quite unique. How do you prepare for such a physically demanding style and what challenges do you face in the creation process? How do I come up with ideas like this?
I completed three years of training as an actor in Hamburg: I have a diploma in acting and worked as a freelance actor in Hamburg for several years. The training also includes stage fighting and fencing. I was very good at fencing. I was familiar with Nikki de ST Phalle's shooting pictures, great idea from Nikki. However, it wasn't until after drama school that I came up with the idea of working with the rapier. I thought for a long time about how I could use the weapon to create my own style and what I could call it.
To stay on the topic of linearism, I came up with the idea of calling it "fencing pictures - absolute linearism", so I stayed true to my line.
Picasso's statement that art is a weapon is quite powerful. How do you personally relate to this idea, especially in connection with your “fencing image” technique?
In my statement about my style it says "if I see the canvas as an enemy", that means I can use the canvas as a metaphor just like the consumer objects in my "consumptive surrealism"
If I'm angry with someone, for example my best friend or girlfriend, if I'm upset about something or I'm dissatisfied with something, I can produce this energy on the screen and let my anger out on the screen. At that moment, the screen is the person, the object, or the situation, i.e. the opponent I am angry with, for example my best friend or my neighbor.
It's fun and I can let my creative energy flow as if I were arguing with someone.
The connection between your childhood home on Linienweg and your artistic focus on linearity is intriguing. How do you think this early life experience has influenced your artistic journey?
As I have already reported in many interviews, it was a difficult time.
For as long as I have known her, my mother repeatedly had nervous breakdowns and manic depressive attacks and then had to be hospitalized for several months.
When my mother brought me home from the children's home, everyone can imagine how difficult the situation was for a little boy of 9 years old. Not just for me, but also for my two sisters, who are ten years older than me, and who looked after me during that time.
They didn't always have time, so I was alone a lot. There wasn't much money either.
For us children, that was our trauma.
I had no choice but to keep busy myself. If you can speak of linearity in this phase, then I was constantly busy with myself and developed many interests. I did a lot of sports, karate, tennis, football, badminton, I still do sports to this day.
I also only became aware of the fact that I lived in Linienweg later in my engagement with art.
Much later, an editor at a local newspaper spoke to me about it during an interview and pointed out, I wasn't even aware of it until then, that it was perhaps connected to my art subconsciously.
Throughout your career, how have you seen your art impact or resonate with your audience, particularly regarding the themes of linearity and surrealism?
The reactions to my exhibitions have always been very positive, I have always been encouraged to continue working on them, my ideas show a new perspective in art.
Of course I am happy about such statements from the audience. They are a kind of confirmation of what I do.
The many requests from publishers to include me in international catalogs and encyclopedias and the many interviews show that my ideas are probably good.
My art is often described as original, which makes me particularly happy.
For me, these successes are motivation and show me that I have achieved something interesting in the scene.
That gave me the idea to register my ideas with the patent office. These have now been registered trademarks for many years.
Looking forward, are there any new themes or techniques you are excited to explore in your art?
Yes, there are.
I'm interested in cubism. Of course I'm not allowed to implement cubism in the same way as Picasso, George Braque and others. Then I would be doing plagiarism, I have to find my own visual language that is typical for me, i.e. with my linearism.
Imagine if I were to break down every single cube into lines in a cubist motif. I would call it “line cubism”.
I've already made a few works in this form, but haven't pursued it any further.
I've also made other attempts by combining my styles, like in my series "
"WORDS"
We communicate with our language and the written word. The handwritten word of each person is his personal Line management and his individual expression.
In this picture series, the central message is the word. The handwritten word is at the center of the image. Collages with pictures of consumer items support that Word, they are merely supporting actors, they lend the motif in a surreal touch. The background is designed in the style of my "extreme linearism".
These works are a good example like my "consumptive surrealism" and my "extreme linearism" harmonises with each other.
My "extreme linearism" merges the picture into a single unit.
I can't say more, who knows what inspiration I'll come up with.
