Inside or Outside - Limited Edition of 6 Photograph

Part of the series "Gardens of Wabi Sabi" Limited Edition of 6 + 2 AP Printed on Hahnemühle FinArt Photo media, archival quality, incl. signed Certificate of Authenticity with edition number. We leave a white boarder for better handling. _ EXCERPT from preface: Wabi and Sabi as aesthetic concept “You fetch water, collect firewood, boil the water, prepare the tea, offer it to the Buddha, pass it to the others, and also drink it yourself (…) you should, honourable monk, become aware yourself of further details regarding the significance of the Art of Tea.”(1) This quotation from the 10th century originates from the monk Nabô Sôkei and shows the nature of Wabi and Sabi in its complete simplicity, in the clarity of the description and the related spiritual dimension. Between the lines, the beauty of simple things is opened up to us by being reduced to its essentials. This idea of Wabi and Sabi comprises equally: - an eye for the small details of everyday life with their essential and private significance. - an incompleteness inherent within it, as reflected by the development and passage of nature. Both are connected by the feeling, the essence, the soul of that which accompanies me. Be it in the Art of Tea, or as a mediator setting an example within its art form, Wabi and Sabi has, in this way, become an aesthetic concept in Japan’s Art, a concept which expresses the inspired beauty of simplicity and transience. “Quietness and contemplation – I photograph the feeling which moves me when I view something”, says Helmut Rueger when he speaks about his work. And this is where the world of Wabi and Sabi meets photography. Contemplation If we follow this quiet reflection of the three Japanese women, our eyes are opened to the colour of the treetops. The autumn foliage appears unspectacularly simple – looking at simpleness. This is simplicity in its utmost form: nothingness … An incompleteness inherent within it, as reflected by the development and passage of nature. If we, as Europeans, now permit ourselves to neglect the question of the meaning of it all, and get involved in this play of colours of the leaves – if we permit ourselves – to question our comprehension of this reflection, we soon arrive at the perception of this simplicity, which comes so close to nothingness. And now one may well ask the question: which feeling do I have in this nothingness? And then we discover within ourselves, while reflecting on “contemplation”, an eye for the small details of everyday life with their private significance – essential and intimate for us. Feeling and pictorial language This is the exact moment which Helmut Rueger captures in his photography. The feeling of that particular moment in time takes on a form. Or to put it another way, to quote the American photographer Minor White (1908–1976): “Expressive photography shows a thing not only as what it is, but as what else it is.” (2) This surprise – that it can become an adventure for the viewer to experience the adventure of the photography, that there is so much to discover in the motifs, extending way beyond the clear depiction of the object or the scenery – can be seen to good effect in Helmut Rueger’s work “Inside or Outside”. At first sight, a shoji, a sliding door, framed on left and right by blue door leaves, the patina of which beats the arch of the present – in which the viewer is standing – into transience. Through a second, interior door which is closed, the view opens onto the colourful autumn foliage in its transitory splendour. Stepping closer – leads the way to the adventure. What if, in reality, we are standing in front of this door, and the autumnal garden is behind us? In a subtle way, this work accompanies us to a trompe-l’oeil, an optical illusion. Actually, more to an awareness of the object, which even questions, confuses and reduces our position as viewer to absurdity. The interior door forms the mirror for the real world which is behind us. Viewing this “picture” with tactile perception, we are suddenly in a room: the door is in front of us, the garden is behind us. If we take our time, “let ourselves in”, we move from the classical viewer of a photograph in a gallery to the reality of the picture world, and we find ourselves there as the protagonist, the leading actor for perception. We are faced with the question: what do we feel at that particular moment? ............. Dr. C. Haertl-Kasulke _ A "ready to hang" version is available. Perfectly mounted in a wooden frame of manual production, either cream white (RAL 9001) or graphite black (RAL 9011) with acrylic glas "UV 100" as front. ( $ 5.300,00) + shipping Please contact curator@saatchiart.com if you are interested. This Artwork is also available as: 100 x 100 cm (Limited Edition of 8 + 2 AP) If you are interested, please contact curator@saatchiart.com