„the corsage  of sediments and cracks“.

2013, construction wood for an old bridge, spruce, thread,176x60x35CM

 A project by Martin Krammer for the Arte Laguna Prize in 2014

Nowhere else except in Venice have humans and the sea developed such a dense relationship. Venetians live their urban lives only a few centimeters above an element permanently in motion. Aqua alta and the vision of the sinking city are part of this exceptional situation and also the myth, which is very  appealing to the world.

 At this years Biennale Exhibition, I saw an art piece, which was dealing with this  phenomenon in a very expressive manner. “Venezia, Venezia” by Alfredo Jaar. An   architectural model, of the giardini and its pavilions on a pool-like table, was flooded from time to time and you could watch the houses sink into the sea - dealing with Venice as a metaphor of a sinking culture.For „standing like water and floating like human“ two characteristics of the element Water interested me most.The first is, when water is calm, it builds a line or a level of perfect horizontality, such strict geometric forms are very rare in nature.The second is, when it is not calm, you see thousands of reflections ( imagine venice canals). These reflections are, an abstract net of light and dark „macchie“.

 These two insights were the starting point from which I tried to have a closer “Venetian“ look on the potential of the Briccola Wood.In Briccola Wood I found these two aspects in the following way:

 Firstlly- the perfectly straight, but in its height always changing horizon of the water level can be represented by the rhythm of thicker and thinner layers of Briccola Wood and a precise cut of a machine, which tends to be an attempt of controlling nature and imitate geometric natural form. 

 Secondly-the placement of the dark channels created by the clams, in such a way that they can remind you of reflections of moving water. This is also nature, but the geometry of the pattern is chaotic or at least much more difficult to handle, more or less like a painter putting brush strokes in the right way, led by talent and intuition.  I want to choose different parts of wood to create tension and rhythm over the whole figure. 

 The core of my art-piece is about a visual synthesis of humans(Venetians) and nature(sea and time) in this special Venetian environment, represented by a very symbolicly charged material like - Briccola Wood. In its structure it is an synthesis of the verticality(human) and the horizontality(water). 

„umbra natur” 2014, 1 kunstmagazin spike ausgabe "kunst im kapitalismus"

acrylfarbe, 32x27x3cm

Der Arbeit Umbra Natur von MK liegt die Idee der Löschung, der Schwärzung und des Verschwindens zugrunde. Sie fokussiert auf vorgefundenes Material – in dem Fall eine Ausgabe des Spike-Magazins zum Thema Kunst im Kapitalismus.

Bei MK verkehrt das Imprägnieren der Zeitschrift mit dem Farbstoff Umbra den Sinn der Publikation, Kunst abzuhandeln. In einer Art lustvollem Verdauungsprozess wird sie Seite für Seite ihres Einflusses auf den Künstler beraubt und, wie nebenbei, auch noch selbst zu Kunst verarbeitet. Dieser hingebungsvollen Einverleibung erliegen seitenweise Trends, Beeinflussung, Konkurrenz und Ablenkung. Zerstörung ist nicht das Ziel, das Resultat ist ein archaisch wirkender Foliant, ein Opfer amüsierter Beharrlichkeit.        Johannes Heuer über "umbra natur"