Inspired by reflections of various artists involved in conceptual art since the beginning of the last century, the exploration of the possibilities of working with imaginary art began in fall 1991. Additionally, certain ideas of the Austrian architect and philosopher Rudolph Steiner in his book „Philosophy of Freedom,“ which the German artist Joseph Beuys adopted and concluded with the statement that thinking itself is already an „invisible plastic process,“ further influenced this work process. This resulted in a notion of creating and installing mental objects and imaginations in a purely artistic, more playful and poetic manner, while Steiner and Beuys underscored the societal nature of this topic, which Beuys conveyed through the „Social Sculpture,“ among other means.
In a concept, which recognizes that a thought alone can be a sculpture, it is stated that mental objects are defined by words – shape, size, material properties, and surface, however, are not subsequently materialized, but exist only in the mind. Materials that do not actually exist can also be used – for example, seemingly solid objects can be created from basic materials such as fog, moonlight, and clouds; but they can also be created by the optical realization of smells or verbal expressions and their associated feelings, or simply by associations in general. Sounds, feelings, and the like can also be processed in this way.
More detailed insights into prehistory and background of this conceptual work are provided by the following link:
„Nebulous imaginations of Butter and Snowfall“ – explanations and background information on working with imaginary art: (a) possible interview
*Note: In this context, special mention should be given to the work of German artist Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven and French artist Marcel Duchamp, who already created conceptual artworks at the beginning of the last century, which subsequently set the trend for future generations. Other protagonists with strong influence on this art movement are Yoko Ono, John Baldessari, Yves Klein, John Cage and many other artists who created relevant works on this subject from the 1960s. References to these artists and their works can be found in the chapter Links of this website
image series/visualization a.i.m