Work-in-Progress: Hartmut Austen
I'm currently working on a series of variable lithographic prints titled "Tumbling Towers" in collaboration with Andrew Mockler from Jungle Press in New York. I plan to offer this series of 15 variable prints for purchase in order to raise funds for a book that I plan to publish next year. For the image, I mix line elements of watch – or observation towers with lines that I traced from photographic documents of “Merzbau,” an interior space Gesamtkunstwerk created by German artist Kurt Schwitters between the wars. My aim is to contrast power structures, now braking down (or tumbling) with a reference to that personal interior space of visionary imagination, play and process, as exemplified by the inspiring and regenerative oeuvre of Schwitters.
In response to social isolation guidelines, Kresge Arts in Detroit asked Kresge Artist Fellows and Gilda Award recipients to give us a glimpse into their current and recent projects. Participating artists received stipends of $150, a quick response pivot of resources that could be implemented by the program as an immediate - albeit small level - of support to Detroit area artists.