Creative Position

Inheritance dispute

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 a wounded pride. As an activist he presented as a rebel against the same totalitarian ideology he stood for. Until, by chance, contemporary history put an end to that performance. The second appearance: a junior researcher whose exemplary commitment came along with an equally persistent search for their teacher's professional missteps. Eventually he became self-sufficient, against his own will, in changing communities of other creatives.

Turning Point

Further discussion in the position paper »Personality as creative ambition«, also bookable as workshop.From 1994 to 1996 and from 2006 to 2011 he tried to develop as a person by way of biographical works. Then, on a hot summer day in 2014, he experienced eventually what he had been searching for.

I realized immediately, that I had lived by a fictional personality. I left half a glass of wine untouched at lunchtime the following day and would no longer drink alcohol. Not because before I wanted and had failed to quit drinking. But because it had been like the residue of a foreign body, which now had to be vomited out.

Understanding his personality this way was shattering and liberating. A few months later he decided to understand this phenomenon at any cost. He described his I, as it was fading away, through a series of unflattering events; assuming it would be possible to decipher it.

The idea: If the self-image is consciously expressed, its credibility can only be determined by others. But if one's conduct is recorded simultaneously, contemporaneous notes can establish evidence.

Interim balance sheet

With a combined effort of only 7 years, he proved and documented clearly, how a person can prepare for their personality deciphering itself. Initially, he justified this effort with resolving inherited issues and being able to better utilize his talents. But when thinking clearly, the question of proportionality doesn't even present itself: Identity is priceless.

Personality as creative ambition

Like other creative endeavors, personality cannot be elevated to the status of an artwork by its originator. Artists cannot label their work as artwork. They would lack credibility because they lack distance. It would be doubly implausible to call oneself an ›artist of one's personality‹. ^[4] 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 or to be found in heaven. Some constitutions grant citizens the right to protection of their ›bodily integrity‹. This right includes protection from violence and injury. Its origin is the inalienable right to be creative with oneself. ^[19]