CHRISTOF BLUMENTRATH (HAIKU) AND MARKUS KÄMPER (PHOTOS): FOUND PIECES & HAIKU
Then there is the photo haiku exhibition designed by Christof Blumentrath (Haiku) and Markus Kämper (photos) "Finds & Haiku" unfortunately became a victim of the corona pandemic, is available on the website https://fundstuecke.jimdosite.com a virtual replacement. In addition to the photo haiku, this website offers further interesting details and explanations about the creation of the exhibition but also about the haiku, as well as an extra ten audio haibun written and read by Christof Blumentrath and accompanied by sound installations by Markus Kämper - a wonderful opportunity in difficult times To enjoy culture.
A review by Brigitte ten Brink:
The exhibition “Fundstücke”, a joint effort by Christof Blumentrath (Haiku) and Marcus Kämper (photos), has become a victim of the corona pandemic and so I now have an exhibition catalog in front of me, the works of which are not (yet) visited in reality could. However, the works can be viewed on the above website with a lot of additional information. As an extra, there are Haibun written and read by Christof Blumentrath on this website, which are underlaid with sound installations by Marcus Kämper.
The illustrations for “Fundstücke” are preceded by a foreword by the authors, which begins with a quote from Pablo Picasso: "I'm not looking, I think. Searching is based on old stocks and wanting to find what is already known. Finding that is completely new. All roads are open and what is found is unknown. " For Picasso, “find” has a more positive connotation than “search” because, in his opinion, something new is discovered through “find”, but “search” can only come up with familiar things. I would therefore like to supplement this Picasso quote with a quote from the first Pippi Longstocking book. Pippi explains to Annika and Tommy what a seeker is. A seeker is: “Someone who finds things, you know. What else should it be? The whole world is full of things and it really needs someone to find it. And that's exactly what the hunters do. " * This explanation by Pippi, like the Picasso quotation, requires an open view of and in the world for everything that it offers, especially for the small, the inconspicuous things that are not seen on superficial observation and yet treasures in can recover. It is in the eye of the beholder to recognize the treasure as such and to raise and appreciate it.
Marcus Kämper and Christof Blumentrath have now found things, or rather their remaining remains, what was left of what they once were. Things that are normally not noticed, that are carelessly passed by and that can no longer be used. And now something extraordinary happens. These remnants, these “found objects” are given a meaning by the one setting them in scene photographically and the other underlining this photograph with a haiku. In my eyes, this is the phenomenon that is called wabi-sabi in the haiku theory: recognizing beauty in the simple, imperfect, ephemeral and making it vivid and so the whole thing is a very unique, stylish one that can no longer be overlooked To give beauty.
It is fascinating how Markus Kämper succeeds in giving the finds, razor-sharp on a black background, an aura that turns them into works of art. The Haiku by Christof Blumentrath, unpretentious in the language and yet wonderfully lyrical and heartfelt, intensify this effect in an impressive way.
On the website mentioned above there is a short documentation about size, material, find date, find time and find place as well as a lot more information about one aspect of the associated haiku. This website is worth looking at, worth reading, "A bridge between real and visual exhibition", as the authors write in their preface to the catalog, and a wonderful way to enjoy culture even in difficult times.
* https://efraimstochter.de/201-Sachensucher-tolle-Dinge-finden-wie-Pippi-Langstrumpf.htm
