Franz Xaver Messerschmidt

Messerschmidt became mentally ill in the later years of his life (1771-1784) the period during which he had created the 69 busts. He was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, and during analysis told doctors he was persecuted by demons at night who visited and tortured him at night. Most of his disturbances centered upon the mouth, and he was very troubled that men, unlike animals display the red of the lips. His preoccupation with the mouth seems to be the result of his associating it directly with the anus. While working on the sculpted heads he pinched himself repeatedly in certain areas of his body. Combined with violently contorted facial expressions, both aimed at gaining control over the demons. His image making activity was largely confined to self portraiture based on the distorted facial expressions as seen in a mirror. The busts function as masks and guardian images in a desperate but intensely focused attempted to ward them off.





The above piece, according to him, actually depicts the ‘demon of proportion’ (as he called it) and can be understood as an illustration of his hallucination. The mouth is dealt with as a strange beak-like shape with no indication of lips.

damian ortega

controller of the universe


false movement (stability and economic growth)


cosmic thing



skin

With Skin, Ortega took three modernist buildings that serve as public housing and has cut out the floorplan of a single apartment unit in leather. The leather floorplan was then hung from a meat hook from the ceiling. It shows the contrast between architectural theory and the end result. Soft hanging scultpures that are based on architects’ attempts to solve the problem of overpopulated urban living. Skin as a border of the body and the wall as a border of a home. An image of the housing structure that the floorplan belongs to is cleverly tattooed on each piece. With Skin, Ortega provides further proof as to how an architect like Le Corbusier failed in his meglomaniacal attempt at public housing and how the road to hell is paved with good intentions. [designboston.org]

tem·per

[This word just unlocked my brain. How lovely, a single word that can be applied to both metalwork and the mind!]

–noun
1.a particular state of mind or feelings.
2.habit of mind, esp. with respect to irritability or patience,outbursts of anger, or the like; disposition: an even temper.
3.heat of mind or passion, shown in outbursts of anger,resentment, etc.
4.calm disposition or state of mind: to be out of temper.
5.a substance added to something to modify its properties or qualities.
6.Metallurgy .a.the degree of hardness and strength imparted to a metal, as by quenching, heat treatment, or coldworking.
b. the percentage of carbon in tool steel.
c.the operation of tempering.
7.Archaic . a middle course; compromise.
8.Obsolete . the constitution or character of a substance.

–verb (used with object)
9.to moderate or mitigate: to temper justice with mercy.
10. to soften or tone down.
11.to bring to a proper, suitable, or desirable state by or as by blending or admixture.
12.to moisten, mix, and work up into proper consistency, as clay or mortar
13.Metallurgy . to impart strength or toughness to (steel or castiron) by heating and cooling.

mounir fatmi

minimalism is capitalist // easels, painting, sentence, circular saw, posters, neon light //



underneath/ part of the Fuck Architects series // wood table




Leave, and wait for me, I will arrive. // vhs tapes, acrylic wall painting //



keeping faith // mirrored floor, vhs tapes, leather straps //



forget // helmet and skulls in ceramic //