From the sea into the dusty heat of La Planeta

Searching for suitable objects is always a kind of journey into the void, with many surprises that also influence the interpretation of my eventual works. For some reason, the sea again and again presents me with the rarest pieces. A short drive inland takes you to the outdoor gallery of San Planeta, situated on a slope above the town of Andratx. There, temperatures reached almost 40° C while the driftwood was turned into sculptures. No cooling wind blew. But the effort was worth it. In the end three sculptures emerged, made of very similar materials but with completely different messages.

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…because it seemed that our driftwood finds would be quickly salvaged. Only the transport from the beach of Camp de Mar on to the waiting furgunetta (a little decrepit pickup) would cost us a little more effort – or so we thought… Keeping the nearest projecting cliff firmly in sight, off we pedalled, true to our motto “some sport every day keeps your worries away”. Second thoughts only appeared when we had reached the little cape and no bay was yet to be seen. The incredulous stares of yacht-owners and slightly higher waves could not really lessen our forward drive since we were the only pedal boat riders enjoying this marvellous view of cliffs 30 to 40 meters high. If only the speed of our pedal-driven plastic vessel had been a little less limited. At last, with a gesture of warning I found exaggerated, a fisherman pointed us back in the right direction. On the return trip we actually saw our original destination, but only out of the corner of an eye.
Realising that this day was as good as done we finally reached our starting beach, exhausted. The last thing we heard, distantly, like through a cloud of cotton wool, was our pedal boat lender’s enquiry how we had liked it … on Ibiza … very funny.
Why I am still happy not to have become a painter – please see my next article…

Oh, here’s a comparison of the distance we covered and the distance to our intended destination, thanks to Google Maps:

A painter stands in front of his canvas and starts his creative process. My creative process starts with wondering what materials will be at my disposal. Will form and shape of the driftwood inspire me, and, if so, to do what? The owner of an outdoor gallery with arguably the most spectacular view over Andratx asked me to create two sculptures. The challenge was that driftwood from the island was to be used and that, as a series of events had been planned from the end of July, the sculptures had to be finished by then. A very ambitious undertaking! Two or three days had been set aside for finding and salvaging some driftwood. Initially, with the help of Google Earth and some friends who know the area, everything seemed to point towards success.
I admit that the third day with no driftwood in Sa Planeta dampened motivation a bit.

This third day ended in an unplanned sports challenge involving a pedal boat and, crucially, a lack of spatial awareness skills. More about this in the next article…

The 15th of March I present my new sculpture at the car dealership Löhlein in Wendelstein, while Mercedes will present their new GLA and C-class types. Raw, used motorparts like pistons and cylinders are the footing for a piece of driftwood from Kings Canyon in Caliornia. The find was formed by the wild water coming from the glacier in the Sierra Nevada into it’s dynamic wingform. The vehemece and the brute signs of deterioration of the motorparts in use seem to lift the rare piece, probably from a sequoia, into the light. I took all of the motorparts in their used look to give the driftwood the presence it needs. The opportunity to show this special sculpture in the context of the new Mercedes types makes the observation and interpretation even more fascinating. So just show up at the cardealership Löhlein in Wendelstein the 15th of March! If we can make it logistically we will also show the mural relief “The finish Decents”. The approximately 4.500 Lego bricks should be able to bring car fans back to their childhood.

Geo Koordinaten 36.7945 -118.5798

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