Are You Walking in Circles?

I am suspicious of video art…

Usually I either do not understand it, or it is boring or I just do not feel like watching for what feels like a lifetime to ‘get’ it. And yet, I have been lured into making my own video art. At least I hope that my video art is short and easy to understand. And if you do not understand it, at least it will have been so short, that you hopefully will not feel like you have wasted half your day on it.

And so, today I would like to introduce to you one of the works of my last exhibition, Walking in Circles. The work is conceptualised to be running continuously without any stops. So much for me disliking long videos… 😉 Don’t worry, in reality it is only an 18 second clip, looped and presented to you here in a bite-size piece of 3 minutes (or shorter if you press the stop button 😉 ). After you have watched the video, please feel free to read on, as I share my thoughts behind the work below.

A Meditation On Life and Change

This is a meditative work, where seemingly nothing changes, no matter how long you keep watching. When watching a video, we somehow expect that something new will happen, that there is a story to be told, a new action introduced or at least a beginning and an end. This video is moving along, but nothing changes. I could have been walking for 10 minutes or 24 hours, but you will not know. And there is no end, unless you leave the room or press the Stop button.

This could have a calming effect. Just like the cycles of nature, or day and night following each other without fail. So if you have a lot of turbulence in your life, this video could bring calm to it. It provides repetitive, calming stability and presence. Step for step, circle for circle you can let yourself be drawn into the moment and know that the important things will always remain constant. The cycles of nature will turn. The sun will rise again. You can rest, slow down and trust the process.

This could also have a very different effect on you. You might feel stuck in a rut. You might yearn for a change. But the video does not provide that, no matter how long you stare and wait. In this case, watching the video could be a meditation, leading you to the understanding, that if you want something to change, YOU need to change. Unless the person walking in the circles actually makes the conscious decision to step out of that ring into the next, everything will stay the same.

Are you willing to step outside of the circle? And change the course of history?

Consciously stepping out of the circle… © Imke Rust

About the work:
‘Walking in Circles’ by Imke Rust
 18 seconds, looped indefinitely,  projected against a wall. or on a vertically placed screen.
 Performance /  HD Video piece
 Concept & Performance: Imke Rust ©
 Video: Steffen Holzkamp
 April 2012
 Location: grounds of the Salt Company (PTY) Ltd, Namib Desert.

Coulrophobia – or how to face your fears

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Who is afraid of the clown? Apparently enough people to have an own term for this fear: Coulrophobia.

In our holiday bungalow on Poel we found a children’s porcelain savings ‚box’ in the form of a clown’s head, used as decoration. It was so ugly and trashy that we immediately named it

Gruselclown

(German for creepy clown)

Gruselclown (Before)

In a state of absolute coulrophobia, I decided that it definitely needed to get a real makeover:

Gruselclown - After our intervention

Gruselclown – After our intervention

The bookshelf had mostly thriller and horror novels on offer. With the name already set for the clown and seeing the books, it was a short way to decide to turn him into a skull. Now he had a real purpose to hold the books upright and add to the horror theme and the poor thing did not look so out-of-place anymore.

Gruselkabinett – Horror Bookshelve

In good company with books titled: In the Name of the Dead and Cemetery of the Living Dead or In a Coma.

Disclaimer: It has become a habit of mine, to subtly alter and improve the decoration in hotels and holiday appartments when I have the opportunity. I do this with respect to the owners and future guests. I do not intend any harm and hope that it will put a smile on people’s faces who notice.

Memories of a Tree Taking Flight

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An exploration in a forest and trying to reconnect with its magic…

Taking flight...

Memories of a Tree Taking Flight

Running through a forest of departed trees

Running through a forest of departed trees

Zwiegespräch mit einem Bieber (Dialog with a Beaver)

Zwiegespräch mit einem Bieber (Dialog with a Beaver)

Domestic Sculpture in Blue (or how to avoid doing the washing)

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Do you also regard domestic work as a nuissance and a waste-of-time, but realise that it unforunately is a necessary evil? I do. 😦

Sometimes I try to cheer myself up, by pretending it is all a creative and fun adventure. And this is the result of that happening the other day when I was supposed to do the washing:

Domestic Sculpture in Blue (or how to avoid doing the washing)

Wishing you a wonderful and creative week ahead!

My artwork seen from space

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Wow – what a surprise! I just realised that Google has updated their satellite views, and one can clearly see my land art installations ‘Salt Circles’ right from outer space! Isn’t that cool?

Land art installation ‘Salt Circles’ by Imke Rust, as seen on Google Satellite View. (Correct Coordinates: 22° 36’ 21” S,14° 31’ 51” E)

I have taken this photo from my screen, but you can go and have a look on Google Maps/Satellite View yourself. (Coordinates: 22° 36’ 21” S,14° 31’ 51” E)

Even if one cannot see each circle on its own, one can clearly see the smallest and largest circle and some lighter/white shade in between.

And I have another special treat for you! Outer space pictures are amazing, but looking very closely at something is equally breathtaking. Here are some close up pictures, taken by my father a few months after completion of the installation:

chestnut banded plover in the centre of my salt installation

Chestnut banded plover (near threatened species) in the centre of my salt installation

While photographing the salt circles for me, my father noticed this chestnut banded plover (thank you to Jean-Paul Roux for pointing out the correct name) in the centre of the circles, and the bird did not want to leave, dispite all the action. So on closer inspeciton my father found the reason why it was spending time in the centre of the salt circles:

Strandloopertjie nest with eggs

Yes, she has choosen the salt ridges of the circles as perfect shelter for laying her eggs. 🙂 🙂 🙂

The artwork was supposed to be a symbolic blessing and protection of the surrounding land. The concentric circles were selected as a shape to symbolise the outward ripple-effect which I hope this blessing and protection would have. To me the nest of the bird seems to confirm in a small but beautiful way, that my intentions are recognised and appreciated by nature.

Another close-up view

For more information and pictures of this artwork, click here.

Film production almost completed

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An Inifinte Scream – The Documentary: Trailer

How did you make this? Where do you get all your ideas? Why are you working with salt? And what is a Tokoloshe Trap?

Did you ever wonder about these things when you see my art? Well, this time you are lucky and soon you will get some answers.

Documenting SubRosa IRust (c)

We have made a documentary film about my latest land art project ‘…and I sensed and infinite scream passing through the Namib’. It gives you a great behind-the-scene glimpse into the project and an insight how I work and think.

You can join me in the exciting journey from the making of the artworks, the thoughts behind them, the challenges along the way and finally the exhibition. It is a personal portrait as much as a film about the art and its role in society.

Until we can finally publicly release the film, you can already view the trailer and check out the film’s webpage. It will give you a taste of what to expect in the full documentary once it is released. Do not forget to sign up for the blog to find out when and where it will be screened. (I will also keep you updated here.)

A great thank you, to filmmaker and my partner Steffen Holzkamp for the excellent work and the super-cool film. I am really looking forward to sharing the full film with everybody soon.

Click HERE to view the trailer (1:36min)

Making of the Salt Circles © Imke Rust

Making the barbed wire stems for the roses © Imke Rust

Pimping a framed calendar photo

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Intervention Against Tasteless Wall Decorations in Hotels and Holiday Apartments.(Part 5)

The Great Bather Detail View ©ImkeRust

Cutting out a landscape photo from a calendar and framing it in a cheap frame seems to be a general habit all over the world. Do people really think that is cool? Ok, it is cheap and at least usually calendar photos usually show an average pretty landscape. But still, as my art lecturer would say: “Why, Larry? Why?”

Our bungalow on the island Poel in the Baltic ocean was small, but had a few typical holiday bungalow decoration gems on offer. This faded landscape of the area was one of it and in urgent need of improvement.

Found calendar photo or the BEFORE pic

I decided to pimp the calendar image with some ‘real’ painting and a view which looks slightly more exciting and challenging. On the previous day I photographed an old man going for a swim in the shallow water and decided to add him to the idyllic island landscape.

AFTER: The Great Bather final pic ©ImkeRust

While painting, I had all kinds of ideas for the title, envisioning the man to be a mythical, cow eating giant responsible for the mysterious disappearance of the cows. Or a ghost who only appears at certain times in the water and stares at the cows before submerging in the sea again. Or just the friendly village eldest who has been going for a swim every day without fail for the past 28 years….

But I guess I leave the stories for the viewers who will hopefully notice something strange in this picture and start wondering.

Making of The Great Bather ©ImkeRust

The Great Bather back on the wall©ImkeRust

Did you like this? You can view more similar actions on my webpage under Interventions. I will be posting future deco busting actions on my blog, so be sure to sign up to receive notifications of updates via email. 🙂

Intervention Against Tasteless Wall Decorations in Hotels and Holiday Apartments.(Part 2)

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In a previous blog post (A Confession) I have confessed to my urge to improve boring or ugly wall decorations in hotels or holiday apartments. Today I am sharing another similar intervention with you, before I am leaving for a short holiday at the Baltic Sea. And who knows, maybe our bungalow there is also in need of some artistic intervention? If so, you will find out about it on my blog – so, if you have not already done it, subscribe to my blog to receive notifications when I post something new.

Intervention Against Tasteless Wall Decorations in Hotels and Holiday Apartments.(Part 2)
Intervention gegen geschmacklose Wanddekoration in Hotelzimmern und Ferienwohnungen.(Teil 2)

Background: Since 2010 I have secretly been slightly altering tasteless or boring hotel or holiday apartment art whenever I had the chance to.

Title: Appearance of a Woman

Date: July 2012, Location: a holiday apartment somewhere in Vítkovice, Czech Republic.
Medium: Acrylic and pen on found decorative print on wood

: The ‘Before’ picture of a commercial flower print as found in the holiday apartment

The holiday apartment had two exactly the same decorative commercial art prints in the bedrooms. How thoughtless and boring is that? With apologies to the original artist, I thought at least one should be more exciting than just flowers and squares. So this is how it looks now:

: Altered artwork

: Busy with letting the woman appear on the flower print.

: View of the room with the altered artwork

: Explanation and apology text which I have added to the back of the work – just in case somebody thinks of looking there.

Text added by me on the back of the artwork:

Congratulations!

You have noticed that this decoration is not your average horror experience of cheap so-called art prints, but a more stimulating and interesting mutation thereof. Such bad and soulless pictures cause an allergic reaction with me, which manifests in colours, lines and picturesque alterations.

I hope you can understand and forgive me and that you can find joy and a fresh curiosity and appreciation for true creativity and real thought-provoking , interesting and exciting original art.

Yours sincerely, Imke Rust

Exhibition to end gender based violence

Exhibition opening: 27 June @18h00, National Art Gallery of Namibia

BangBang

BangBang (Acrylic on hardboard, box-framed, 40 x 35cm by Imke Rust)

“BangBang” is a colourful, lighthearted and quirky artwork, open to interpretation. To me it speaks about the dance of love and relationships and their shadow sides, such as the often invisible power-struggles and emotional violence happening within relationships or stigmatization directed against gay people.

The dance of love (or any relationship) needs awareness, mutual respect and sensitivity. If we do not have that, the world seems upside down and we are spinning helplessly in a cycle of unconsciousness, leading to hurt and pain (or in the worst case violence).

Lets dance with each other in the beautiful consciousness that in each of us is a divine soul that needs to be acknowledged and nurtured.

The work is for sale. If you like it, why not come over to the National Art Gallery and buy it? 🙂

I am happy to announce that my artwork has been selected for the exhibition UNITE to End Gender Based Violence. It will be on show, amongst several other great artworks by Namibian artists, at the National Art Gallery of Namibia from the 28th of June till the 2nd of August 2013.

Don’t miss the opening, which takes place on the 27th of June 2013 at 18h00. Namibia’s First Lady, Madam Penehupifo Pohamba will be the keynote speaker. Unfortunately gender based violence is on the increase in our society and a pressing and disturbing problem which needs to be addressed. I hope that this exhibition can play an active role in making us aware that this issue concerns each of us and help us to find solutions.

If you are in Windhoek please come and see the exhibition and show your support for this important matter.

Unite to End Gender Based Violence Exhibition Poster

Sowing Salt

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Still image from ‘Sowing Salt’ (Art Video / Performance )

Have you ever sowed salt?

No? – Why would you?!?!

Any sane person would know that that would be futile and at the same time dangerous, poisoning and destroying your piece of soil.

But how often have you done something like sowing salt? Investing your energy (or money) and only later realising that you have done more harm than good? And how often did you do something stupid, because somebody told you that “that is what we have to do” or “It is a sure way to get rich (you can substitute ‘rich’ with whatever else you desire)”? I guess we all have at least once sowed salt and been utterly disappointed, asking ourselves why we did not think it through before we invested in an idea, and before it was too late…

It is up to us, to stop sowing salt. Stop whatever “get-rich-quick” scheme you are onto.First think your choices through to the end. Think about the larger picture and what impact it will have on others or your environment. If you are not sure, get informed and educate yourself. It is so easy in today’s world to have easy and free access to information. Share your knowledge and urge people to stop following “get-rich-quick” promises of their leaders. That way we can restore our earth and lives to its natural fertility and beauty.

In 2012 I have made a video art work / performance entitled: Sowing Salt. The work is a contemplation about people blindly following their leaders without questioning if it is right or wrong, and thinking about the long-term effects of their actions.

It was first shown as a video installation in December 2012 at my exhibition “…and I sensed an infinite scream passing through the Namib” (Swakopmund, Namibia). If you have missed the exhibition, you can now get a glimpse of this video work.

To get a brief impression of the original video installation, please follow the link below. In the exhibition the video continued in loop endlessly. Watch the video in the highest quality possible and remember to switch on the sound.