Felix Giesen
OPen
Felix Giesen abstract painting
Kunstakadmie - Rheinflügel

Kunstakadmie - Rheinflügel

Name

Kunstakadmie - Rheinflügel

Year

2024

Scope of Work

Oil Painting

Location

Düsseldorf

Studying color stain painting at the Art Academy combines experimental color application with an in-depth exploration of materials. The painting surface—traditional linen fabric primed with rabbit skin glue—plays a crucial role in this technique. Linen provides stability and a fine texture, while rabbit skin glue regulates absorbency and influences color behavior. In color stain painting, seen in movements like Color Field Painting and Informalism, these factors determine how pigments flow, shine, or soak into the surface. At the academy, I had the opportunity to study under Udo Dzierks and Gerion Kreber, whose teachings encouraged both technical precision and experimental freedom. Their guidance allowed me to question traditional techniques and explore new approaches. Engaging with materials and painting surfaces thus became an essential part of my artistic expression.
Düsseldorf‑based artist Felix Giesen primarily works with conventional visual arts media, expressing himself through painting and works on paper. Unlike his highly tactile oil paintings, however, his innovative digital artworks break out of the established framework.In the series Materiality Game, the artist creates digital artworks in extensions to abstract oil paintings or in the form of fully digital AR sculptures. These works find meaning within the interplay of materiality, reality, and our perception of reality.

Each work by Felix Giesen, both painting and digital sculpture, exists as an abstract artwork, reflecting a unique emotional state and opening an individual scope for interpretation. However, considering the working method and creative process that characterizes this series of works, one must understand Materiality Game as a complete body of work, which constantly moves between the digital and physical planes. By doing so, the artist questions the extent to which the physical and virtual worlds separate from one another and how they construct our present‑day reality

My work "Parzelle 4":

Close up Felix Giesen
Giesen always makes sure to choose an approach as natural as possible to link the physical and digital world inextricably from the beginning of his work when creating a digital sculpture. The basic shape of the three‑dimensional object file the artwork is based on is firsthand sculpted on the touchscreen and then modeled in mid‑air with the help of virtual reality goggles. For this purpose, the artist processes each part of the sculpture by bending and reshaping it directly with his hands, like it is done with sculptures made of wax or clay. With the help of the goggles, the model functions like a tangible object that can move throughout the room. A hand‑formed work of art on the virtual plane is created.

Trailer - Hybrid Nature

In Zeiten von Konflikten und fortwährenden ökonomischen und ökologischen Krisen ist die Natur ein wichtiger Sehnsuchtsort für die Menschen. Immer mehr belebt sie auch digitale Landschaften, ob als AR- oder XR-Anwendung oder im Metaversum, oft idealisiert und ästhetisch zugespitzt. Theoretiker*innen wie Timothy Morton oder Donna Haraway distanzieren sich von Vorstellungen von der Natur als etwas Ursprünglichem und denken sie als kulturell, historisch, technologisch geformt. Ist Natur denkbar ohne den Menschen, ohne Technologie und Digitalisierung? Leben wir bereits in postnatürlichen Zeiten? Deutlich wird: Natur ist emotional aufgeladen und vielfältig. Die ausgewählten AR-Arbeiten machen die Schnittstellen physischer und digitaler Welten sichtbar. Sie hinterfragen unser Verständnis davon, was Natur und was Kultur ist, in welcher Beziehung sie zueinanderstehen, und ob sie sich überhaupt trennen lassen.

Augmented Reality ist keine technische Spielerei; die Arbeiten dieser Biennale fordern die Besuchenden heraus und entwerfen produktive Ideen für eine Zukunft, die außerhalb der eigenen Vorstellungskraft liegt.
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