Relics. Eternal shapes

RELICS OF THE LATE 20th CENTURY
Egyptian Collection
Reference: Egyptian grave goods
24-karat gilded polystyrene 11,0 x 11,4 x 1,2 inches
Unique, Dresden. 2010

RELICS OF THE LATE 20th CENTURY
Mesoamerican Collection
Reference: sacral objects of the cultures of ancient America
24-karat gilded polystyrene 24,4 x 24,5 x 3,2 inches
Unique, Dresden. 2020
The RELICS project started with a question.
Is there a universal language of forms, a common visual language of cultures?
People from different civilizations and all eras discover again and again the beauty and elegance of one and the same visual vocabulary.They use it for ritual-spiritual gold objects and also for majestic architecture.
They use it for ritual-spiritual gold objects and also for majestic architecture.
This canon of forms is also unexpectedly revealed in contemporary Styrofoam packaging. Whole groups of packaging can be assigned to many cultural and historical styles. They contain exactly the same visual vocabulary as gold treasures and precious objects from different cultures and epochs.
The timeless gold objects are symbols of power and the divine. Golden artifacts tell the cultural history in a common artistic language. In all cultures they refer to a different level of reality. As grave goods, jewelry, coins, sacral objects, power insignia, but also as shrines, mosaics and architectural elements, they are instruments of transcendence, beauty and majesty.
The amazing variety of forms resembling cultural artifacts is systematized in the RELICS project. It has developed a collection concept of polystyrene packaging. Arranged according to cultural epochs, there are collections on the Baroque, on Ancient Egypt, on the gold treasures of the Celts, on the cultures of Ancient America and many others.
The stylistic connections between the packaging objects and cultural-historical gold artifacts find their own, unmistakable expression only after the polystyrene objects have been gilded with 24-carat gold leaf. The gilded RELICS are exhibited in the context of their art historical references.
Das Projekt RELICS begann mit einer Frage.
Gibt es eine universelle Formensprache, eine gemeinsame visuelle Sprache der Kulturen?
Menschen aus verschiedenen Zivilisationen und allen Epochen entdecken immer wieder die Schönheit und Eleganz ein und desselben visuellen Vokabulars. Sie verwenden es für rituell-spirituelle Goldobjekte und auch für majestätische Architektur.
Dieser Formenkanon zeigt sich unerwartet auch in zeitgenössischen Styroporverpackungen. Ganze Gruppen von Verpackungen lassen sich vielen kulturellen und historischen Stilen zuordnen. Sie enthalten genau dasselbe visuelle Vokabular wie Goldschätze und Kostbarkeiten aus unterschiedlichen Kulturen und Epochen. Die zeitlosen Goldobjekte sind Symbole der Macht und des Göttlichen. Goldene Artefakte erzählen die Kulturgeschichte in einer gemeinsamen künstlerischen Sprache. Sie verweisen in allen Kulturen auf eine andere Ebene der Wirklichkeit. Als Grabbeigaben, Schmuck, Münzen, sakrale Objekte, Machtinsignien, aber auch als Schreine, Mosaike und architektonische Elemente sind sie Instrumente der Transzendenz, Schönheit und Majestät. Die erstaunliche Vielzahl von Formen, die kulturellen Artefakte ähneln, werden im Projekt RELICS systematisiert. Es bietet ein Sammlungskonzept von Styroporverpackungen. Nach Kulturepochen geordnet, gibt es Sammlungen zum Barock, zum alten Ägypten, zu den Goldschätzen der Kelten, zu den Kulturen des alten Amerikas und vielen anderen. Die stilistischen Verbindungen zwischen den Verpackungsobjekten und kulturgeschichtlichen Goldartefakten finden erst nach der Vergoldung der Polystyrolobjekte mit 24-karätigem Blattgold ihren eigenen, unverwechselbaren Ausdruck. Die vergoldeten RELICS werden im Kontext ihrer kunsthistorischen Bezüge ausgestellt.

RELICS OF THE LATE 20th CENTURY
Mesoamerican Collection
Reference: sacral objects of the cultures of ancient America
24-karat gilded polystyrene 14,4 x 12,5 x 1,5 inches
Unique, Dresden. 2010/12

RELICS OF THE LATE 20th CENTURY
Mesoamerican Collection
Reference: sacral objects of the cultures of ancient America
24-karat gilded polystyrene 12,4 x 12,4 x 1,5 inches
Unique, Dresden. 2013

RELICS OF THE LATE 20th CENTURY
Mesoamerican Collection
Reference: sacral objects of the cultures of ancient America
24-karat gilded polystyrene 16,2 x 12,4 x 1,7 inches
Unique, Dresden. 2012

RELICS OF THE LATE 20th CENTURY
Early Baroque Collection
Reference: Baroque treasure art of the new Green Vault Dresden
Treasury of August the Strong, State Art Collections Saxony
24-karat gilded polystyrene, 8,7 x 5,1 x 2,8 inches
Unique, Dresden. 2010

RELICS OF THE LATE 20th CENTURY
Medieval Collection
Reference: medieval sacral objects
24-karat gilded polystyrene 7,4 x 5,9 x 3,9 inches
Unique, Dresden. 2019

RELICS OF THE LATE 20th CENTURY
Medieval Collection
Reference: medieval sacral objects
24-karat gilded polystyrene 11,8 x 1,9 x 1,6 inches
Unique, Dresden. 2019

RELICS OF THE LATE 20th CENTURY
Medieval Collection
Reference: medieval sacral objects
24-karat gilded polystyrene 3,1 x 2,3 x 1,2 inches
Unique, Dresden. 2018

RELICS OF THE LATE 20th CENTURY
Egyptian Collection
Reference: Egyptian grave goods
24-karat gilded polystyrene 4,1 x 3,8 x 2,8 inches
Unique, Dresden. 2019

RELICS OF THE LATE 20th CENTURY
Egyptian Collection
Reference: Egyptian grave goods
24-karat gilded polystyrene Ø 11,0 x 1,2 inches
Unique, Dresden. 2018

RELICS OF THE LATE 20th CENTURY
Awaric Collection
Reference: the Migration Period, early medieval times
24-karat gilded polystyrene 1,8 x 1,2 x 1,7 inches
Unique, Dresden. 2020

RELICS OF THE LATE 20th CENTURY
Awaric Collection
Reference: the Migration Period, early medieval times
24-karat gilded polystyrene 4,7 x 4,7 x 4,7 inches
Unique, Dresden. 2020

RELICS OF THE LATE 20th CENTURY
Late Antiquity Collection
Reference: sacral objects, Abrahamic religions, early Christian
24-karat gilded polystyrene 10,4 x 3,9 x 3,5 inches
Unique, Dresden. 2020

RELICS OF THE LATE 20th CENTURY
Late Antiquity Collection
Reference: sacral objects, Abrahamic religions, early Christian
24-karat gilded polystyrene 10,4 x 6,4 x 3,5 inches
Unique, Dresden. 2020