(Dieter Kiessling)
The process of sculpting takes place at a fundamental level of „investigating material“, part of a methodical search for the „potential“ aspects of objects. In Kiessling´s „Schleuderstern“, one of the functions of the dialectic binary concepts derived from this approach – such as the “immaterial“ character of transparent material or the material qualities of an „immaterial“ medium – is to highlight the extremely delicate nature of the relation between what is „real“ (denotation) and what is „virtual“ (connotation).
Proponents of the various forms of contemporary „constructivist“ philosophy are particularly apt to do away with all that is real in their theoretical models and nevertheless cling to the adjective „real“ (as in digital „real time“ video editing). In these models, this immense fascination with „reality“ is lived out in various forms that range from its misuse to its very destruction, yet without ultimately satisfying the desire for this same „reality“. Kiessling´s „irreversible“ intervention in the material makes it clear that this notion of „reality“ being completely absorbed by „virtuality“ still belongs in the realm of „media fiction“.
The conceptual opposition of optics and haptics is resolved due to their simultaneous nature, generating a visual transparency beyond any supposed „iconoclastic“ process of artistic creation. The notion of „structurally altering elementary states through a functional investigation of sculptural material“ (Dierk Stemmler) applies to both Kiessling´s film, video and computer works or performances and his sculptures. In his „Schleuderstern“ the artist „shrinks“ the apparent „contrast“ between the function and the aesthetic potential of an everyday object down to a transparent engraved ornament 8.3.cm in diameter. A 50 Hz Sony Trinitron colour TV (Model. No. KV-M19D, Serial No. 6058615) is given an unmistakable existence of its own de facto and de jure – a mass-produced product becomes an original item. This dissolution of function, the „breaking of functional feedback“ or the counteracting of the „functional role-playing“ (Rolf Hengesbach) of an „essentially“ content-less medium makes the medium an aesthetic object, which, representative of the media as a whole, aims to „integrate them into a context-dependent situation“ (Dieter Daniels).
The virtual object becomes a sign, and the sign literally „cuts“ its way into the object, thus making the semiotic distinction between signifier and signified to a large degree redundant.
By revealing the hidden and overlooked sensuality of objects, Kiessling continues to barrage us with unparalleled intensity with visible and plausible arguments for holding on to th econcept of art, and most vividly does so in a borderline zone which unearths the simplicity of technology despite its apparent diversity, while retaining the diversity of art in the „simplicity“ of its straighforward yet cutting interventions in its own media. Similar in structure to his famous closed circuit video installations, Kiessling´s „Schleuderstern“ has a unique status between artistic and technological „input“ and „output“, refusing to transcend the distinction between the real and the virtual – a difficult balancing act.
