Creative Position
Topic
His work explores the tension between self-image and perceived image. Usually he does not seek appreciation of creative works as artwork because they are meant for self-unfolding.
Heritage
He was born into a family of refugees in West Germany; his father and grandfather were career soldiers at times. Their paths shaped him, as his questions were met with silence and wounded pride. He became an activist, portraying himself as a rebel against the very totalitarian ideology he espoused. Then history put an end to this performance, and he became a junior researcher whose exemplary commitment came along with his equally persistent search for their teachers professional missteps. That's how he became self-sufficient eventually, in changing communities of other creatives.
From 1994 to 1996 and from 2006 to 2011 he appropriated art and own biographical works, to gain an unbroken personal presence.
Turning Point
On a hot summer day in 2014, he experienced what he had been searching for for many years.
The insight of the day: I had lived by a fictional personality. I left half a glass of wine untouched at lunchtime the following day, knowing that I would no longer drink alcohol. Not because before I wanted and had failed to quit drinking. But because the habit had been like the residue of a foreign body, which now had to be vomited out.
Realizing his personality as ›autofiction‹ was shattering and liberating at the same time. He only had a hunch as to how it had come about. Therefore, a few months later he decided to pursue understanding this phenomenon. He described his autofiction through a series of unflattering events; assuming it would be possible, and worthwhile for him and us, to then decipher it. The self-image is thought and consciously expressed; therefore, its credibility can only be determined by others. But if one's conduct is recorded simultaneously, contemporaneous notes can establish evidence. Initially, he justified this with the aim of resolving the conflicts mentioned above and being able to better utilize his rich talents. But when thinking clearly, the question of proportionality doesn't present itself. Identity may not be effortless, but it is priceless.
Outcome
With a combined effort of only 7 years, he has proven, analysed and documented, that a person can decipher and develop their personality, despite it seeming fixed for most of their life: ›Personality‹ can be a creative ambition. Systematic discussion in the position paper »Personality as creative ambition« and bookable as workshop. However, like other creative endeavors, personality cannot be elevated to the status of an artwork by its originator. Artists too cannot label their work as artwork. They would lack credibility because they lack distance. It would be doubly implausible [4] to call oneself an ›artist of one's personality‹.
An artist's position does not have to be described, their artworks show it. In the case of personality as work, the person is their position.
»I exploit the richness of my presence. I am guided by the idea that ›everything that comes from thought exists‹.[6] How could that exclude my body?«
Interest
Totalitarian ideologies and missionary religions consider the education of humankind by their dignitaries necessary for the creation of paradise on earth. — Some constitutions grant citizens the right to protection of their ›bodily integrity‹. This right includes protection from violence and injury. The counterpart is the right to be creative with oneself.