Art / art
Reto Pulfer at Spike Island
Spike Island is the location for a new immersive work by Swiss born, and Berlin based, artist Reto Pulfer. Pulfer is entirely self-taught and his work includes not just painting, drawing, writing, music, found objects but also everyday materials such as textiles, food or spices.
His artworks are primarily designed to be experience by the viewer and to evoke and represent diverse mental states described by Pulfer as Zustände. The environments Pulfer fashions are complex and synaesthetic, sometimes unsettling, sometimes challenging, yet always aesthetically pleasing.
Pulfer’s site specific piece at, and for, Spike Island incorporates a vast fishing net which will dominate the space. The piece is entitled Gewässerzeiten translated literally as ‘waters-times’ hence the sourcing of silt from the river and the presentation of watercolours which represent territories and countries which are surrounded by one of the world’s seas or oceans.
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Hanging from the net are bells, ribbons, dehydrated food and ceramics fired by the artist on the opening night during a live performance. These ceramics are removed from the kiln while they are still red hot and subjected to a fast cooling process using sawdust. The intense colours and crackled surfaces are the result of using the traditional sixteenth century Raku pottery technique,. The colours and surface canot be predicted in Raku ceramics this reflects Pulfer’s interest in working with chance operations and actions. The installation is also accompanied by a soundtrack of looping guitar riffs and chords created by Pulfer.
Alongside the installation hand-drawn maps which recall places where the artist has lived, travelled to or imagined, and a collection of games devised over an extended period of time, including shields and weapons crafted out of paper by Pulfer as a child are shown.
The maps and games expand on an ancient memory technique called Mnemonics. The studio works document Pulfer’s creative process and reflect his fascination with language and writing exmplified in his recently completed novel, The Eccentrics.
Reto Pulfer opens at Spike Island on July 4
For more information, visit www.spikeisland.org.uk