Conceptual sculptor JENS RISCH
patiently knots kilometers of silk
threat to product a highly
concentrated and dense
object the size of a fist.
In some cases the resulting
“Silk Piece” took four years
to complete. Additionally
the artist has kept a diary
scrupulously recording the
work he performs every day
for several hours. This recording
allows RISCH to draw inventories
of the methods he uses and
of quantifying how much work
he has carried out, in what
time and with what results.
patiently knots kilometers of silk
threat to product a highly
concentrated and dense
object the size of a fist.
In some cases the resulting
“Silk Piece” took four years
to complete. Additionally
the artist has kept a diary
scrupulously recording the
work he performs every day
for several hours. This recording
allows RISCH to draw inventories
of the methods he uses and
of quantifying how much work
he has carried out, in what
time and with what results.
His minimalist sculpture seeks
to reduce artistic intervention
as far as possible. His methodical
and repetitive work on matter
betrays no signs of formal planning.
The shape of RISCH’s objects
exclusively depends on the
characteristics of the material
chosen and on the physical
tension produced during
the tying process.
to reduce artistic intervention
as far as possible. His methodical
and repetitive work on matter
betrays no signs of formal planning.
The shape of RISCH’s objects
exclusively depends on the
characteristics of the material
chosen and on the physical
tension produced during
the tying process.
RISCH’s knots, then,
are a way of testifying
to the infinitely slow
passing of time and of
recording it. The final
shape of his works is a
sort of coagulated time.
The sculptor focuses on
the pure and simple act of
tying knots, refusing to
resort to any system that might
accelerate his work. The result
is a creative process that seems
to find its founding value in slowness.
are a way of testifying
to the infinitely slow
passing of time and of
recording it. The final
shape of his works is a
sort of coagulated time.
The sculptor focuses on
the pure and simple act of
tying knots, refusing to
resort to any system that might
accelerate his work. The result
is a creative process that seems
to find its founding value in slowness.
Each work of the “Silk Piece”
consists of a single silk
threat about one kilometre in
length, which the artist has woven,
knot after knot, into an inextricable
tangle: “I tie knots on a
thread until no more can
be tied“. By the end of the
first phase of this work,
the thread has already
been shortened by one
third of its original
length. A second phase
then begins in which
Risch continues tying
his knots. The end product
is a result from a series
of passages. The artist
describes these different
phases as “generations”:
an allusion to the field
of biology that by
invoking the idea
of filiation illustrates
the various phases in the creation of the work.
consists of a single silk
threat about one kilometre in
length, which the artist has woven,
knot after knot, into an inextricable
tangle: “I tie knots on a
thread until no more can
be tied“. By the end of the
first phase of this work,
the thread has already
been shortened by one
third of its original
length. A second phase
then begins in which
Risch continues tying
his knots. The end product
is a result from a series
of passages. The artist
describes these different
phases as “generations”:
an allusion to the field
of biology that by
invoking the idea
of filiation illustrates
the various phases in the creation of the work.
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