The project „CHASE YOUR DREAMS“ (2020 – 2021) funded by the Thuringian Graduate Promotion Program follows the anthropologic idea of man as “Mängelwesen“ (“deficient beings”) with lacks of instincts and physical deficiencies and reflects on functional design as an allegory for compensatory extensions.
For this I made textile objects on canvas, which are oriented to the design of trekking backpacks. Playing with the arrangement of functional design elements such as zippers, buckles, special seams, etc., a semantics can be assumed, which, however, remains hidden from the viewer. By emphasizing the lack of understanding of optimized functional objects, I question man‘s relationship to his highly technological environment.
Other elements of the artistic project “CHASE YOUR DREAMS” are three steel sculptures (“I am“, “Falling“, “Apart“), which are inspired by stair railings, but do not function as such due to various “attributes”. Through the synthesis of functionality and dysfunctionality within the sculptures, I reflect critically on the self-evident nature of an optimized environment and its impact on the subject.
Lisa Hopf 