Aurum Roses · 2011
installation · biennial »Ortung VII – In the Spirit of Gold« · Art Price of the City of Schwabach
Installation for the biennial »Ortung VII – In the Spirit of Gold« · 6 – 21 August 2011 in Schwabach/Bayern
since 2011 (permanent) · location: shed at Südliche Ringstr. 10, Schwabach
wall/stencil painting: acrylic on lime plaster
vitrine: »Schwabach gold bullion«, plaster, gold-plated with 24 carat gold leaf from Schwabach, MDF-socle with stencil printing
Children‘s portraits within mural, based on photographs from Hartmut Schwarzbach‘s photography series: PHL, Philippines, gold digger‘s town Diwalwal at Mount Diwalwal on isle Mindanao, children working for the gold production, January 2008 – www.hartmut-schwarzbach.jimdo.com
In this installation/wall piece I quote classical ornaments from various periods.
Alienated by Gold-beater’s hammers, the background ornament from the 15th century points towards the 500-years long craftsmanship tradition in Schwabach; the neo-classical medallions were borrowed from the 18th century.
Within the medallions contemporary portraits of Philippine children of the gold diggers town of Diwalwal appear; children who painfully help to earn a living for their families by smashing rests of ore from the gold mines with their hammers.
The composition of colour and form creates a visual union, which at first appears to be purely decorative and is a reminder on the interior of the manor house. On second sight, the contrast between historic ornament and time-critical motive thwarts the technically elaborate aesthetics of the stencil print.
The contrast is further enhanced by the irritating presentation of mural and «Schwabach Gold Bullion» inside an old shed overgrown by ivy, which awakens from its Sleeping Beauty repose.
Complex interpretation scenarios open up, which summons one thing into our consciousness: the shiny and the dark –for most of us hidden– side of the gold business are inseparably linked to one another even to this day.
