Protecting the shape
on Andreas Sagmeister's
creating of works of art

In the beginning there is the will to shape; the will to develop the shape, to form it as an explicit decision of shape and finally to present it.
Very clear and simple processes, as it seems, to be seen in manifold positions of art, but seldom presented in such clarity, regarding the development of forms, like in the works of art performed by Andreas Sagmeister.

These works of art captivate through a self-evident will to shape, to carve out a clearly defined effective formal arrangement, being able, however, to follow intentionally already existing experiences of shape in the eye of the artist as well as the observer - if it is about an approach towards abstract basic forms of geometry, about functional objects like a bridge or about highly imaginative narrative objects like for example conceivable "houses for fairies".

But the clarity of detachment is always preserved signaling above all formal independence. Each object does not only speak for itself in the sense of modern age, but it also communicates with the postmodern era on the basis of experience, thus in the awareness of a wide range of possibilities to associate and the constantly present situations of enlargement.

The spectator is not principally excluded and forced into an unpredictable position to approach but he is led more into a kind of partnership. He perceives an independent object, something familiar but at the same time not fully integrated into a former familiarity, something disconcerting but nevertheless loaded with many associations of access: a piece taken from the world, shaped in this world and yet with a silent claim to be a piece of world in itself or at least to lead to a possible independence.

The artist's objects of formal independence are created very consciously for different occasions and classifications. Whether it is a small sculpture on the body in the sense of a piece of jewellery or a huge monumental work of art in a public place, if it is in direct connection with architecture or embedded into nature - Andreas Sagmeister constantly works on a definition of shape which is on the one hand independent on the other hand able to establish relations, a definition of shape which presents its peculiarity in the same way as the opening of its individuality in the direction of something that can be communicated. In this process the titles of the works of art that are placed consciously by the artist are of enormous help.

Decisions on which materials to use are of highest importance - in their significance for themselves and also as a formal design and as formally connected partners. The created shapes might be independent from the choice of material, but they are arranged in a concrete artistic presentation which is transported outwards as a unity which means that shape and material together are the work of art.
The effects of the sculpture`s mass or the refering and connecting to the surrounding, all these signals are defined with the help of the decisions on which materials should be used.
And here again the basic rule of the willingness to shape is valid: the shape is developed out of the material and together with the material. But the shape is presented with an idea of independence even if the concrete form is always tied to the material. This is not a sigh of compromise but a concept of the possible form that presents some kind of specific, original position in a world of permanent rearrangement of objects and extensive growth.

In this sense the sculptures created by Andreas Sagmeister are moreover a resting place for the eye of the beholder - resting zones that he cannot only touch, literally speaking, but they create also separate areas presenting the possibility of experiencing an own dimension of time while striding through them and perceiving them.
Last but not least these works of art are a sign of man's sovereignty in dealing with his surroundings. It is possible for a human being to change his surroundings, to define them formally in a new way, at least in single areas and to open them to different perspectives of development, mainly with the possibilities of art.

Dr. Peter Assmann
Director of OÖ Landesmuseum … Read More

ANDREAS SAGMEISTER
1966 born in Ried/ Innkreis AUSTRIA
1981 1985 technical college for gold- and silversmith in Steyr/ OÖ
1985 1991 studied at the University of art/ Linz with Prof. Helmut Gsllpointner
1991 diploma/ masterclass Metal
1992 civil service
Since 1993 works as a free lancer artist in the field of art, jewellery design und individual design.Member of Innviertler Knstlergilde und der IG Bildende Kunst sterreich. Since 1998 leads the studio-galerie Kunststck in Reichersberg/ OÖ … Read More