Disclaimer: (We have a strict policy: Love it or hate it!)
The „Church of Love“ is a cult. You can only join if you are demonstrably willing to receive and give love. Besides that the owners of this token will receive infinite love as long as they hold it. All sales are final, money back policy only applies if you have paid with credit card or Palpay. Crypto is the real deal though. All rights are declined. Either you agree or you will burn in hell.
We love you all!
The Preacher of Love (Grand Master of The Church of Love)
The work is part of the „Mythic Love“ exhibition curated by well known collector Basileus. The show will open December, 7th 2022. Place your bids here!
The work will also be on display at the NFT-Factory in Paris (from December 1st-11th, 2022) for the special exhibition“Qu’est-ce qu’on fabrique?“
„Are we by chance a lie? (…) The characters in a literary work (…) a film that lasts barely an instant (…) the thoughts of a madman? Perhaps one of us is real and others, his hallucination (…) Perhaps we are a printing error that has inadvertently slipped by (…) Perhaps we are a premonition – the image formed in someone’s mind long before the events in which we participate in real life take place. Perhaps we are a fortuitous event that has not yet occurred, which is barely gestating in the cracks of time, or a future event that has not yer occurred.
We are an incomprehensible sign drawn on a moist windowpane on a rainy afternoon. We are the memory, nearly lost, of a remote event. We are beings and objects invoked by a magician’s spell. We are something has been forgotten. We are an accumulation of words, an event told by means of illegible writing, a testimony no one hears. We are part of an entertaining magic show. A bill sent to the wrong address. We are the fleeting, involuntary image that crosses the minds of lovers as they meet, at the instant they lust, at the moment they die.“
Salvador Elizondo – Farabeuf
The work is part of the „Mythic Love“ exhibition curated by well known collector Basileus. The show will open December, 7th 2022. Place your bids here!
In search of inspiration on the subject of „Mythic Love“, I went to the darkest corners of the Internet, to the sad realms of venal love. I’ve met a young woman there who is actually an artist, but could no longer make a living from commissioned work and so finally decided to put her body on display.
I’ve paid a lot of money so that she could tell me her story. She told me about her apartment that was crawling with cockroaches (although it was very expensive) and I joked that in the next life I would be a cockroach to be close to her. In fact, I still quite often feel like filthy vermin in the role of someone who pays to spend time with her.
Somehow we have formed a mystical symbiosis though and it really almost feels like a real friendship at times. I have told her a lot about the power of love and so I got the nickname „Preacher of Love“.
I’m trying to show her a way to make her dreams of a better life come true through crypto-art. She makes me feel like I’m doing something meaningful. I hope that I am really able to bring some light and hope into this darkness.
The work is part of the „Mythic Love“ exhibition curated by well known collector Basileus. The show will open December, 7th 2022. Place your bids here!
The work is based on a monochrome #glitch, that has been run through a Picasso #styletransfer and manually outlined several times.
Here is a side by side comparison:
Source – Finished Work
The source image is embedded in the NFT using steganographic techniques. Please refer to this article to find out how to extract the reference image from the tokenized gif.
The works are based on an #ai#artbreeder portrait, that has been run through a #popart#gan model and then manually #inked, before I applied some #glitch effects using #glitche
My tribute to the windows of John Karel is based on an AI-generated skull, that has been run through a popart GAN-model before I manually added the black lines.
Available as a #cryptoart #nft at my HicetNunc store.
The work is based on an artificial album cover, that I created using Artbreeder and run through a popart GAN model at Playform. Finally I used my Wacom to digitally draw the (out)lines, that you can see now. Here is the inverse version.
The work is based on an artificial portrait, that I created using Artbreeder. In the next step I’ve run it through a popart GAN model at Playform. Finally I used my Wacom to digitally draw the (out)lines, that you can see now.
The work is part of a series in which I deal with self-portraits of Vincent van Gogh.
This time the subject of isolation is in the focus.
Through the Corona pandemic, we are all forced into a more or less intense form of isolation. Vincent was also isolated during his life and his art only found the recognition it deserved after his death.
Besides the fear that such unwanted isolation causes in most of us, it also offers the chance for an intense examination of ourselves and our own values and beliefs.
I first inflated the portrait a bit with a 3D effect, then isolated it from the background, and finally isolated the individual color patches of the portrait from each other by drawing digital borders.
This revealed the puzzle-like structure of a personality: We are all the product of many individual experiences and believes that come together to form the unique puzzle of our character.
Available as a unique #cryptoart #nft at Makersplace.
I’ve just played around with some kaleidoscopic mirror effects of my #dailyart 006/21, which is still available at my opensea store. Here are some variations:
My take on the iconic „Girl with a Pearl Earring“ by Johannes Vermeer. The background is based on a #Pollock #styletransfer. The face has been colored manually.
I keep playing with this famous goddess. This time, I used #styletransfer to create a #picasso version of her face and manually enhanced it in #photoshop
Available as a unique #cryptoart #nft at SuperRare.
This is a progression of yesterday’s work, where I used a painting of #Pollock as the basis for the background. Did some #styletransfer and content-aware fill to manipulate it.
Also did some #styletransfer in the style of #Gauguin #Picasso and #ElGreco
Style Transfer
I really liked, how the #Picasso #styletransfer of the whole painting turned out.
I wanted to find out what happens, when you run a #Picasso painting through a #styletransfer of his own works (several times). Can you guess the source image?
Hard to believe, but today’s work is based on the same abstract than yesterday’s. This time, I’ve run it through #styletransfer before I started outlining and filling.
Today’s artwork is a progression of my second work in 2021. I first colored it and used #styletransfer to let the #ai do some magic. In the last step I manually outlined the fun areas.
The work is the result of my recent style-transfer explorations, where I run different artworks through the Adaptive-Style-Transfer model implemented at Runwayml.com and advance the results by drawing outlines and several other techniques. The source image is a digital drawing, that I’ve created at the collaborative drawing platform dada.art in 2018. You can find the source here.
I kind of regret, that I’ve put him in the center of an artwork today. I feel a huge relief and hope, that love and unity will rule again and will help healing.
The work is based on an original digital drawing by the artist, which he then enhanced by running it through the Adaptive-Style-Transfer Picasso-model implemented at Runwayml.com. In the last step, he manually outlined the resulting color areas.
First I transferred the style of some of my recent works to the skin of nude women, then I used a 3d „height map“ effect and manually outlined every single field.
First I transferred the style of some of my recent works to the skin of nude women, then I used a 3d „height map“ effect and manually outlined every single field.
My #dailyart 005 of 2021 is a colorful drawing, that I created in Photoshop using my Wacom graphics tablet. In the next step I have run it through a Picasso #stylegan model.
My #dailyart 004 of 2021 deals with my current situation. It is based on a digital drawing I created in Photoshop. In a second step I have run variations of it through the stylized-neural-painting #AI model at RunwayML.com, upscaled the frames with Gigapixel AI and animated the results using PicGIF.
You can make me an offer on the #nft at my Opensea-store.
While the world is made up of many different levels of perception, which intersect and overlap, it is increasingly difficult to see the big picture.
At night you are less distracted by bright colors and it is easier to see the patterns and connections. Therefore this work of art automatically changes to day or night mode every 12 hours.
The work is part of my series of digital remasters of my old drawings. It is based on a drawing from 1990, that I digitally recreated by accurately following the lines using a graphics drawing tablet before I filled the shapes with single colors.
The work is based on a monochrome digital drawing, that has alternately been run through an artificial „adaptive style transfer“ process using the „Picasso style checkpoint“ of RunwayML and manually amplified and extended by adding new layers of lines by the artist.
Being part of my series of digital remakes of 30 year old drawings, the original drawing is one of my favorite early works, in which I expressed my love for detail as well as the danger of losing myself in that same. Besides its complexity, the work also shows how everything is connected with everything.
Another digital remaster of a doodle, I originally created in 1990 around a coffee stain on a piece of paper. Everything else was just one line leading to another.
In the search for my signature-style, I recently started to digitally remaster my sketches and drawings from 30 years ago.
The source of this work is taken from my favourite sketchbook from 1990 and I remember, that I created it shortly after I saw „The Mystery of Picasso“ for the first time in the cinema.
Available as a unique #cryptoart token at SuperRare.
Life is a big puzzle game made up of many different events and experiences, some of which are interrelated and overlap. The more experiences we gather, the more complex and colorful the overall picture becomes.
But over time, the perception, emotional coloring and evaluation of different events and memories changes. Some things we may remember only vaguely after a while.
Thus, the inner thought puzzle of each individual constantly reflects life and yet is greater than the sum of its parts.
The work has been created as part of a conversation with my younger self and the search for my signature style, that I started in July 2020.
It is based on a ballpen drawing from about 1990, that I digitally recreated by accurately following the lines using a graphics drawing tablet. Next I filled the shapes with digital colors before I finally decided to split the work into several puzzle-pieces, that can be independently change hue or alternatively display the outlines to turn it into an interactive AsyncArt work.
Mind Puzzle – Original Drawing and Digital Remaster
The world can be confusing and exhausting at times, so it is all the more important to rest occasionally and find your center again. This work is another digital remaster of one of my drawings from 30 years ago. The source of this work comes from my favorite sketchbook from 1990.
A digitally remastered version of an analog oil pastels drawing, that I created on July, 4th 2017. The original title of the work has been „Neat Freak“, but I decided to rename it according to the historic date, it had been created on. You can see the original source at my Hive post.
The work is part of my series of Vincent van Gogh remakes and expresses my deep connection with him. With the help of my signature technique, I dissected the original into its individual brushstrokes and transformed them into mosaic-like color fields. The result makes the incredibly vivid movements that are present in the original visible and even amplifies them.
This is my first experiment of embedding a Bitcoin wallet inside an animated gif using steganography.
The owner will be able to extract the private key of the wallet loaded with 0.02 BTC. The public address of the wallet is: 13P3m4paqsBRSUWogY74QLSFfJMFXwx4yq
The collector can use Terminal to extract the key like so „unzip 2Moon.gif“. Windows users can also use WinRAR to decompress the zip (just rename the gif to zip upfront).
To prevent the funds from being stolen, the buyer will need a password to unzip. This will be sent to the buyers Eth-address as an encrypted message using Mailchain. Alternatively I can send the password over Keybase chat (I’m shortcut there as well).
Please make yourself familiar with the required tools before bidding.
A digital collage made of a glitched image of the artist’s garden and the Eve from the left panel of the triptych „The Garden of Earthly Delights“ painted by Hieronymus Bosch between 1490 and 1510.
Slightly different version available in an edition of 1/3 at Makersplace.
It’s really interesting to see, how working with AsyncArt already influenced my style. Whenever I create something these days, I’m thinking about how great it is to not only provide one finished work but a whole bunch of possibilities.
My first solo-artwork at the revolutionary #cryptoart platform AsyncArt.
Asynchronous Art is an experimental art movement born out of the question “what does art look like when it can be programmed?” What if art could evolve over time, react to its owners, or pull data from the outside world? It’s time to find out what’s possible when modern art takes full advantage of the digital medium.
„The work deals both with the question of the ethical limits and dangers of scientific research (as in the film „The Fly“), the philosophical and sociological consequences of a transformation (as in Kafka’s „The Metamorphosis“), and not least with the question of what actually distinguishes us humans from insects.“
Above is just one of countless combinations, here are some more.
Fly Files – some of the different possible states
The respective owners of the different layers will be able to control the background, body and head states. The latter can even scale, rotate and change the position of the „Fly Files“ heads.
Probably my most successful #cryptoart work so far. 15/25 have been sold so far at MakersPlace.
A digitally marbleized version of a famous dutch painter’s self portrait. The piece received more than 500 likes on Instagram so far.
Some voices from twitter users: „Woah. Fresh!“ „Beautiful colour way. A great piece.“ „Gorgeous island in the pacific ~ named ‚VINCENT'“ „Not sure I’ve ever wanted to swim in an image this much!“
Please notice: „In my ongoing experiment about measuring the value of cryptoart, I decided to sell each edition of „Vincent“ for a higher amount, than the recent maximum price (currently $87.14 or the equivalent in Eth).“
‚I’m catching you! I can handle you!‘ – She said nothing… and yet everything about her seemed to make my exclamation ridiculous.
‚You’ll see! The world will lie at our feet!‘ A gleam of light suddenly awakened a shadow on her, a Shadow, which made me believe, that she blatantly grins me in the face. Blank scorn struck me.
I grabbed her tighter, pulled her closer to me. – She did not resist. She just fiercely glared at me.
This was another one of her rotten tricks. ‚We both know how this ends‘, she seemed to whisper. Every millimeter of her bare body seemed to say so.
‚Not this time! Not with me!‘ I desperately fought back against the power, that emanated from her, inhuman.
I took a deep breath. She still lied motionless in my arms. Somehow a creeping coldness emanated from her. This time she would do what I asked from her.
I nestled her against me, letting her feel my fevered heart. ‚I love her‘, it flashed through me again. ‚She and no other.‘ Even if she understands me so little. Yet more, than any other.
I clasped her neck, pursed my lips. My breath flickered. – She did not seem to breathe.
‚I have waited so long for this moment, my love.‘ I took another deep breath. Then I slowly moved my lips to her. As we touched each other, I almost felt like being struck by a lightning.
She seemed to feel nothing of the sort. She didn’t seem to notice my arousal. I erupted in fervent lust for her. – She didn’t seem to care.
Slowly, very slowly and infinitely gentle I began to breathe my hot breath into her. And while the breath of my body flooded her, she seemed to come to life for the first time that night.
When my hands glided very carefully, tenderly and playfully over her body, suddenly a gentle, delicate and beautiful melody sounded, very softly.
I stood up, pulling her with me. Still clutching her, but now she willingly complied with my lovemaking. We swayed our bodies slowly in the shimmer of the mesmerizing music. My lips still clung to her.
I had captured her and had elicited what she could give, the meaning of her existence.
Hot and fluttering I felt her flowing breath on my hands. The music sounded enchanting. The world was at our feet. Both to me and my saxophone.
While people tend to oversee things outside their usual field of view, I often try looking up and down to spot interesting compositions. I’m also especially on the hunt for interesting textures.
Here is the first pair:
Heaven and Earth 1
In part two of my photography series called Heaven and Earth we can see a piece of heaven as seen from the entrance hall of the Martin Gropius building in Berlin as well as an old truck tyre lying in the riverbed of the river Rhine near my hometown Bonn.
Heaven and Earth 2
Sometimes our point of view is restricted by conflicting opinions. We make use of our egos to define ourselves. But essentially we are just living out one facet of the infinite views of the big picture.
… embodies the idea that there is always a correspondence between the laws of phenomena of the various „planes“ of being and life. As above, so below; as below, so above.
The alleged message, which occurs during the middle section of the song („If there’s a bustle in your hedgerow, don’t be alarmed now…“) when played backward, was purported to contain the Satanic references „Here’s to my sweet Satan“ and „I sing because I live with Satan.“
The song refers to the Hebrew name of God, „Yahweh“, when played backwards: „As above, so below; as below, so above.“
The next pair of photographies reminded me of the myth of Icarus.
Often depicted in art, Icarus and his father attempt to escape from Crete by means of wings that his father constructed from feathers and wax. Icarus‘ father warns him first of complacency and then of hubris, asking that he fly neither too low nor too high, so the sea’s dampness would not clog his wings or the sun’s heat melt them. Icarus ignored his father’s instructions not to fly too close to the sun, when the wax in his wings melted and he fell into the sea.
Left: Installation at a church in Kassel during the last documenta art-exhibition (2012). Right: A sign at a junction box in Mallorca, Spain (shot 2016).
„Pride goes before a fall“
Here is a painting showing Icarus and his father Daedalus for comparison:
Jacob Peter Gowy’s The Flight of Icarus.
Neither flying too high, nor too low is an art, which is difficultly to master. Obviously it’s essential to find the fine line in between.
„If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.“
It means that in the dark, physical appearance is unimportant.
But how can you decide then, whether the wood is glowing or burning? You’d need your other senses, like the sense of smell.
Heaven and Earth 5
You might be easily tricked to believe what your eyes see and you often won’t be able to decide if it’s the tree of life or the hellfire you’re facing.
When in doubt, try listening to your gut instincts and your heart.
A blast from the past
First constructed between 1896 and 1898 the so called „Old Rhinebridge“, had been the worlds largest arch bridge of it’s time. Two month before the end of world war II (in march 1945) the bridge had been blown up by the the armed forces of the Third Reich to make it more difficult for the allied troops to conquer the territories lying east of the river.
After the war was over, the bridge had been rebuild on their old piers (in 1949) and had been called „New Rhinebridge“ then. At 2nd of december 1963, just 10 days after the assassination of president John F. Kennedy, it had been renamed to „Kennedy-Bridge“.
Heaven and Earth 6
Left: „Kennedy-bridge“ crossing the river Rhine in Bonn. Right: „Gus Fring“ after having his face blown off by Walt’s bomb at TV-series „Breaking Bad“.
„Blown away“
Gustavo „Gus“ Fring is a fictional character in „Breaking Bad“ and „Better Call Saul“, played by actor Giancarlo Esposito, who is named after the former german soccer International Torsten Frings. His death scene in „Breaking Bad“ has blown away the fans of the series, who compared his face to that of Harvey Dent „Two-Face“ as seen in the film „The Dark Knight“.
Moments before dying, Gus manages to calmly adjust his tie even after having half his face blown off. Esposito saw it as an important gesture of „when a person goes to what they’ve always done“, in order „to be complete in his leaving this world.“
I’m really undecided how to bridge this two images, but for me it looks like Gus stays right under the Kennedy-bridge and while the heaven above the bridge really looks peaceful to me, the hell is just around the corner.
John of Nepomuk
John of Nepomuk is…
… a patron against calumnies and, because of the manner of his death, a protector from floods and drowning.
Left: John of Nepomuk in Bonn Beuel photographed by me. Right: Razor ribbon fence, from Vero Vig on pixabay.
Nepomuk
is the only saint besides Maria that is shown with a halo of stars. This is how he looks from the front.
His halo of stars somehow reminded me of the razor ribbon fence, that is supposed to protect human beings from eachother these days.
It’s actually the first time, that I used a public-domain image in a part of my photography series.
Disciples of Sacred Geometry
As you can see, neither the heaven nor the earth is really visible through those man-made patterns. This leads to the insight, that we are often trying to hide from the real elements and therefore separate from nature.
Heaven and Earth 8
Left: A piece of heaven as seen through the polyacrylic windowpane of our terrace door. Right: Flagged floor at the ground garage of our former residence.
Maybe we are just insects on the surface of the big Apple of Discord? Or maybe we are strokes on a drawing of the great MC?
Adrenaline Junkies
I once had the chance to film people skydiving for an inhouse documentary of Smirnoff ICE. It’s such an enormous difference that you can see in the faces between the moment right before jumping off the plane and right after landing on earth.
Heaven and Earth 9
Left: Some nice river-art someone sprayed on a milestone. Right: Felix Baumgartner right after his stratosphere jump as seen on my TV.
With the help of the endogenous adrenaline production, people are able to face extreme and sometimes even life-threatening situations. After they’ve survived these moments of fear unscathed, most of the people are even getting addicted to this feeling and just want to jump right again.
Liberal Thinkers
Thoughts are meant to be free, free as birds.
Heaven and Earth 10
When you prohibit yourself from thinking out of the box, you will begin to die!
Society is trying to pigeon-hole you, but as long as you question the reality of absolute beliefs and rules, you can be free.
You better keep moving!
Nothing is as it seems in this world.
Left: The „Deutsche Bank“ building in Frankfurt/Main. – Right: A stairway to the beach in Stein, Schleswig-Holstein.
Although they build the highest buildings to let you look up, the real heaven is often downstairs.
To get the whole picture you need to think in both ways and don’t just rely on your senses. The opposite is often exactly as true as the obvious.
You better keep thinking!
Truth is a Pathless Land
This part of the series relates to a famous quote by Jiddu Krishnamurti:
I maintain that Truth is a pathless land, and you cannot approach it by any path whatsoever, by any religion, by any sect. […] Truth, being limitless, unconditioned, unapproachable by any path whatsoever, cannot be organized; nor should any organization be formed to lead or to coerce people along any particular path.
Following the trails, other people have beaten, just makes you a carbon copy of their believes.
It’s essential to follow your heart to form your individual truth and to constantly update your believes.
A belief is purely an individual matter, and you cannot and must not organize it. If you do, it becomes dead, crystallized; it becomes a creed, a sect, a religion, to be imposed on others.
This is the codeword of an US-military strategy, that has been developed during the war in Vietnam. If the army was unable to conquer an area violently, they used this technique to negotiate with the people – to win their hearts and minds.
Left: An artwork by the „Critical Art Ensemble„, shown at documenta 13 in Kassel. – Right: A piece of street-art in my hometown Bonn.
Religion has some similar approach:
Regardless of the church, most of the world religions scare the people about some kind of hell, that non-believers have to face and also promise some kind of heaven or paradise for people that obey the religious leaders.
Capitalism and Consumerism
After many people started to quit church these days, people a forced into a new ersatz religion. In this religion smartphones and designer brands are the new implements of winning our hearts and minds.
You better keep denying!
Truth-Seekers
Should we take the advice of the „holy“ scriptures quite literally or not?
“Forget the Bible, the Quran, the Vedas, the Granth Sahib, and all the scriptures in the world. None of them will show you the Great Eternal Truth. None of them will show you the Kingdom of God, for the real Kingdom of the Ultimate Truth is inside your mind. […] Without the Mind, there is no God. Without you, there is no God.”
Left: A „Busstop“ in heaven in Gozo, Republic of Malta – Right: A kids-car at the riverside of Rhine in Bonn, Germany
Remain at the wheel
When navigation systems became quite popular, we had several cases in Germany, where people drove their cars into the river, because a buggy navigation system told them to do so. People tend to rather follow a guide (even when he is wrong), than judge for themselves.
A sign is just a reference to the message, not the message itself.
The busstop sign is not the place, where the bus can stop. The real busstop is somewhere in the sphere. Just as all scriptures can only give hints and point to a deeper truth. But they don’t literally are the truth.
Reader discretion is advised
“. . . I feel we don’t really need scriptures. The entire life is an open book, a scripture. Read it. Learn while digging a pit or chopping some wood or cooking some food. If you can’t learn from your daily activities, how are you going to understand the scriptures? (233)”
Questioning the idea of art (and also the idea of persistence)
Left: Ernst Günter Hansing, untitled (steel sculpture), 1988/89 – Right: A kid-built bridge in the sandpit
Like beauty, art is in the eye of the beholder.
But often things are only considered as art, when their creator is known and when a sign is attached telling people: „This is art.“ Artist like Marcel Duchamp actually took everyday objects, signed them and placed them in a gallery. This way the artwork was created just by calling it art and by placing it into an art environment.
„Fountain“ by Marcel Duchamp (public domain)
Dynamics of the present
The artwork by Ernst Günter Hansing, who was a disciple of Fernand Léger, was created in celebration of the 2000 year existence of the city Bonn.
In spite of compositional austerity, the dynamics of the present, including that of the city of Bonn, can be conveyed with these forms, which are acting like an bundle of energy, as intended by the artist.
The plastic of Hansing had been made out of steel with a base of concrete. It was meant to stay there at least another 2000 years, I guess. While the bridge „artwork“ in the sandpit was build out of sticks in the sand. I’m pretty sure, the artist, that created it, neither would have called it art, nor would have dreamt about someone would feature it in a photography series about art. But things never turn out the way you expect.
„In February 1998, the top-vortex of the plastic, that had been called „shashlik“ by the people, broke down and had to be re-welded.”
In the end the observer decides, wether something is art or not.
So you better watch out!
Blueprints
POV
When judging about others, we often forget that our knowledge is mostly based on our framework as well as on personal experiences. We should keep in mind, that in a world of dualities slipping into somebody else’s shoes is essential. Only this way we will be able to see the whole picture and to transcend to the unified field of love and peace.
Although I usually don’t think too much about the meaning, when I create an artwork, I will do my best to share a few thoughts about the different puzzle-pieces of my AsyncArt work „Mind Puzzle“ and what they mean to me. Hope you enjoy!
This quote by French avant-garde Dada artist Francis Picabia has always been very important to me. Especially as I grew up in a Christian sect, where everything was extremely regulated and the world was divided into right and wrong, good and evil, chosen and damned.
From the description of the Puzzle layer you can see, that there is a face (probably a self-portrait) in a transparent box.
A head in a transparent box from which a plant with beautiful flowers grows. Next to it a foot that breaks out of the rigid structure. Where does it go?
It needed some art, namely the literature works by Hermann Hesse to plant a seed of doubt in my head. Something, that slowly started to grow and similar to a grassroots revolution gave me confidence to start to think outside the box of my cage of belief.
When I drew the original sketch of the Mind Puzzle, I had already left my parent’s home and the world of faith of my childhood and youth for two years and was hungry to discover the world. I was eager to find and follow my own path and a few beautiful thoughts should blossom in the process.
This is the second part of a blog-series, in which I give you some background informations about the different puzzle-pieces of my latest /asyncart work called „Mind Puzzle„. Enjoy!
Relationship
It definitely makes sense to me, that the second part of the MindPuzzle deals with my relation to the opposite sex, which has been quite complicated during my youth.
While it was forbidden for religious reasons to have a relationship with girls (no sex before marriage), my instincts told me something completely different. So it was no wonder that sexual attraction became one of the main drives to detach myself from the world view of my parents.
So it happened that on the one hand I had a platonic love-hate relationship with a school friend for many years, but on the other hand I threw myself with full force into a relationship with a nymphomaniac, who was eventually to become my first wife at the age of 21.
Symbols
I see myself as the figure in the middle of the two girls. Both are living in their own context. While the left one looks much more detailed and complicated, the setting has something of a holidays-beach scene. There are some sun-rays in a checkboxed heaven. To the very left there are two long legs walking in my direction. Bright yellow arrows are pointing in my direction, but are distracted by a beach ball and finally bounce off my shoulder.
The girl on the right side is supported by a male figure, which sends out a water-skiing lizard pulled by a speed-boat. Although I had no idea, what that means when I made the drawing, it’s interesting to know, what the lizard stands for:
In the Indian cultures, the lizard is regarded as light-bringer and messenger of father sun. It watches over the power of dreams and promises happiness and blessings.
In China lizards have a similar positive meaning as dragons. Thus the lizard teaches how to bring security, happiness, blessing and warmth into life permanently.
So I guess, it was the promise of luck and happiness, that my future self was trying to channel to me. The woman on the right offered everything, I was always looking for. So there was no time to loose.
Layer already sold
I’m super happy, that the Puzzle2 layer has already been acquired by another great artist, who gave me a lot of positive feedback, after I had published the „Mind Puzzle“.
You can certainly always try to make him an offer at the AsyncArt page or via OpenSea.
This is the third part of a blog-series about the different puzzle-pieces of my latest /asyncart work called „Mind Puzzle„. Enjoy!
The Frog
The frog is a symbol of change and transformation, as his life-cycle starts in the water and goes through many different states until he’s finally grown up and able to jump around on land. You may notice, that the frog in my layer also transforms into some sort of friendly monster with teeth in the lower part of his face.
In the German tale „The Frog King“ an ugly old frog turned into a king’s son. It teaches us, that the appearance of someone can deceive us about the true inner values of a person.
The Cat
The cat is known for being a great hunter, using not only force but also a fine sense of timing at the moment of attack. It seems to follow its prey and can wait patiently and position itself until it catches it.
Figuratively speaking, this means that problems are handled with patience, self-confidence and a good sense of the timing of the actions.
Orange slices turning into a crossed house
This is similar to the proverbial phrase: „When life gives you lemons, make lemonade“ – Lemons suggest sourness or difficulty in life; making lemonade is turning them into something positive or desirable. The crossed house puzzle is a simple challenge to draw a house without going over any of the lines twice.
„By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior. Often, a knight was a vassal who served as an elite fighter, a bodyguard or a mercenary for a lord, with payment in the form of land holdings.“
Interpretation
I see myself being the knight in this puzzle-piece. I lean very relaxed on the shield with the frog symbol. I’ve already gone through various transformations in my life and I don’t care, what people think about me.
The cat gives me ability to stay calm, observe and then act when the time is right.
Even if I face difficulties , I use my crativity and cleverness to solve the puzzle and build my very own construct.
During the time of the creation of the original drawing, I had already put my studies (computer science and art) on hold and started my alternative service to care for severely disabled people.
At this time my world view exploded, I was incredibly creative and finally lived with my later first wife. I had a dormitory room, enough money and a meaningful occupation that left me enough time for myself.
Layer already sold
I’m super happy, that the Puzzle3 layer has already been collected. You can certainly always try to make an offer at the AsyncArt page or via OpenSea.
This is the fourth part of a blog-series about the different puzzle-pieces of my latest /asyncart work called „Mind Puzzle„. Enjoy!
The Dancer
Music was my first love and besides listening to it all the time and preparing to become a DJ, I was also going to clubs and danced my ass off on the dance-floor several times a week. It was a perfect way to express my emotions and transform the energy of the sound into movement.
Although the dancer in this puzzle-piece isn’t actually dancing, her dress and the nearby mandolin clearly tells me, that it is a dancer just before the music starts. Eventually she’s made a short break, but the bird in front of her, who’s grabbing her neck, wants to make her dance.
Above quote by German dancer and choreographer Pina Bausch, who was an internationally recognized icon of Modern Dance and founder of „Tanztheater Wuppertal“ company in a neighboring town of the place where I grew up, puts it in a nutshell.
The Mandolin
I always wanted to learn to play an instrument, but my father was against it. I still was able to get myself a saxophone and a cheap guitar and played them in my very own (dadaistic) style. Most noticeable I have interpreted two poems by Dadaist Richard Huelsenbeck, which you can still find on soundcloud.
The Bird
Not sure, if everybody sees it that way, but for me it could be a falcon. Like other birds, the falcon stands for the Higher Self and the connection with the spiritual world. The falcon’s alignment with solar energy brings fiery power to the equation. Falcon asks: What is your passion?
He makes you aware of your own potential, represents victory as well as overcoming (but not without having a strategy). He can also carry the message of mindfulness. If you get too close to a situation, step back and rise above it!
The Deer
Do you see the deer behind the mandolin? It has the ability to move quickly and to trust his instincts to get out of the trickiest situations. It also means being highly sensitive and having a strong intuition.
It has mastered the art of approaching things with determination and gentleness.
The Fish
There is a small fish between the dancer and the mandolin. It’s a symbol of fertility and in China the fish is a symbol for luck, wealth and good harvest.
Sometimes it also refers to the inspiring and nourishing function of the unconscious.
Interpretation
Well, so much into this. My love for music and dancing had helped me to keep moving, find my passion, meet people, that shared the love and to create art.
I even met my second wife on the dance-floor and we’ve been married for almost 10 years now. I later was able to work as a DJ for a short time, which was on my todo list for this life.
Hopefully you can relate to one or the other part of this puzzle-piece.
This is the fifth part of a blog-series about the different puzzle-pieces of my latest /asyncart work called „Mind Puzzle„. Enjoy!
Skeleton
A figure looking down. Its body is shaped like a shield and you can see the skeleton. Next to it another figure with a small face and a semi-transparent body.
The longer I look at this puzzle-piece, the more I have the impression that it could also show a tandem on which the two figures are sitting one behind the other.
The rider’s body is shaped like a shield and the fact that you can see the skeleton could mean that he has stripped to the bone to protect his fellow rider. The latter ducks in the rider’s slipstream and his body is about to almost dissolve.
„Eyes“
Underneath a glowing halo of rays, which could also be a pupil or a wheel.
It could actually be the front tire of the tandem or a magic pill, while the eye of the fish might also be the back tire of the bicycle.
Fish
On the right side a kind of predatory fish with a large glowing eye.
More on this in the backstory.
Backstory
During the Gulf War, my girlfriend had a horror trip after she had been involved in the peace movement for weeks (without sleeping much). Suddenly she saw demons everywhere and thought the world was coming to an end. As a result, we even took a short trip into my religious past, because my parents‘ religion was also convinced that the end of the world was near.
In the end we told ourselves that we wanted to stay together, no matter if the world would end or not. And this thought had given us so much support that we finally decided to get married. I was only 21 and my girlfriend was 19, but we had a very cool hippie-wedding with our best friends.
Riding the same bicycle means, that from now on we would follow the same path, even if it meant dealing with our fears and demons. The fish is also a Christian symbol and the fact that it is a predatory fish in the puzzle-piece reflects all the more the fears that were instilled in us by religious influences and world events. But we wanted to protect and help each other, no matter where the journey would take us.
You can place a bid on the puzzle piece at the AsyncArt website.
This is the sixth part of a blog-series about the different puzzle-pieces of my latest /asyncart work called „Mind Puzzle„. It’s the center-piece of the puzzle and therefore very important.
Enjoy!
The Double-Decker Bus
The wreck of a double-decker bus, surrounded by vines. On the lower half it is sprayed with graffiti and meanwhile even a creek has made its way through the discarded vehicle.
The bus actually reminds me of a London style double-decker bus. When you are travelling in such a bus, you’re able to move back&forward, left&right and up&down inside the vehicle. When you move to the upper deck, you have a good overview of the streets and the world looks a bit different. You can meet several different people inside the bus, or you can listen to music or read a book. Despite that, the bus will keep moving to the given destination. You still have the chance to leave the bus at any station, change to another bus or move on walking.
But at the center of the „Mind Puzzle“ we have a broken bus, which has been taken out of service and is slowly disintegrating. It hasn’t got tires anymore and instead of moving around the city, the world has started to move around the bus.
There is a pike in the small stream that has made its way through the bus. The surrounding vines have the shape of a cat with her whiskers. The graffiti at the lower part of bus tell of long gone stories.
The bus is a symbol for the particular world view we are currently attached to. Like in a bubble we travel through the world with like-minded people and although we can slightly change our perspective within the world view, we still want to reach a certain goal together.
The broken Heart
Underneath it is an old neon sign in the shape of a heart that has fallen apart. Next to it many old colorful light bulbs.
The broken heart and the lightbulbs remind me of old discarded neon signs or amusement park lights. When you stop moving and fighting to keep love fresh, it freezes and collapses. Everything becomes only a fading memory that is reclaimed and overgrown by the living nature.
Interpretation
My first wife had met a teacher of transcendental meditation inside such a bus and while we started meditating our world-view and our reference group changed heavily. While we moved in a new direction, some of our old friends joined us, while others preferred to continue sitting high in their previous bus instead of joining us on the new journey.
We later moved to a commune and lived there in an old farmhouse right by the river. On the property there were also many rotten old buses, but that’s another story.
The question, this puzzle piece deals with, is if we realize when our vehicle and our companions, that are part of our journey, have lost the drive and their passion and love have dried up. Do we then have the courage to make the right decisions?
Layer already sold
Although the Puzzle6 layer has already been collected, you can certainly always try to make an offer at the AsyncArt page or via OpenSea.
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