140408: Medienturm: Helmut Mark - Sculpture

Medienturm: Helmut Mark – Scultpure Incitation for complicity The Kunstverein im Medienturm Graz is currently presenting “Scultpures” by Helmut Mark. Mark, who began his career as a painter, turned to the New Media in the 80s and was actively involved in creating video sculptures and setting up the network platform “thing”. With his current works Mark tackles the role of the observer and makes him to an active accomplice instead of a passive onlooker – as far as this role is accepted by the observer. The self-explanatory title of his sculpture “Do it yourself” makes this incitation obvious: a crate, placed in the middle of a room, as if it had been delivered just a moment ago, contains a female hemp plant, whose growth is stimulated by artificial lighting. Depending on the angle of light the plant could bloom and grow to become cannabis-resin. His other crate-sculpture “Ready made” (2004) attains a significance through the impact of its content - Molotov-cocktails, a black helmet, a gas canister, and many other objects –leaving the classical meaning of “ready-made” far behind. The sculpture “Smoke” (2006) is much less aggressive: the colour of the water in the glass mug changes through the immersed cigarette butts. Mark’s work is refreshing - his concept does not become an end in itself, but rather the idea, the implementation and the impact, which is aesthetically well thought-out, are appealing to the observer. Medienturm 8020 Graz, Josefingasse 1, until 26.04.08 www.medienturm.at