Artificial European Landscape – Field, 2022
Diptychon, 190 × 280 cm
Gouache, Pigmentstift auf Bütten
The diptych focuses on a new branding for a Europe of “diversity and unity” developed by architect Rem Kohlhaas and reinterpreted here. The motif consists of horizontal stripes in the colors of the flags of the former existing EU member states and is reminiscent of the appearance of a barcode. The system can be expanded at any time if a new member is joining or leaving. For example, a circle with the national colors of Ukraine, as an unofficial candidate for admission, is also integrated as a circular element, while the national colors of the United Kingdom leave the stripe system at the edge as a circle.
We can discover the national colors and at their transitions also the spiritual potential of the nations, mediated and visualized via quotes from Nobel Prize winners and their discoveries, which seem to transcend national borders as a kind of vegetative system. In this way, a new color symbolism for Europe emerges that makes us think of utopian landscapes in addition to the political aspects.
