In those days, numerous artists was experimenting with
moving objects, light, and mirror effects - not only Uecker and the other
members of
ZERO, but many others, as well, such as
Adolf Luther,
Gerhard von Graevenitz, and
Gunter Fruhtrunk.
In a programmatic sense, the name Zero stands both
for the number itself and for a moment marking a new beginning. Intended
as a departure from the painting of
Art Informel and
Tachism, ZERO's goal seems to have been the bright, luminous, light-like
immaterialization of the painting. In its theoretical investigations, the
group shifted its attention from the autonomous painting ground to the
painting's external conditions, particularly the importance of light and
lighting for the act of seeing. The painting's structure connects with the
environment and incorporates the role of the viewer. Accordingly, the
members developed new forms of group and community work; group actions and
happenings came about that introduced or anticipated the
Fluxus movement of the sixties.
Zero-Party, 1966 in Bonn, Germany,
Photo from: catalogue Kestner-Gesellschaft Hannover, 1972
It is one of the ironies of history that the group, which in any case had been
conceived as nothing more than a loose community, split apart in 1966. Yet
none of the members followed his goal as consistently as the Mecklenburger
Uecker did. He induced art critics interested in his work to compose
fundamental treatments on the outward appearance, the essence, the
meaning, and the practical use of the roofing nail. For Uecker himself,
this particular means of expression was far more than just a catchy
trademark. In being nailed, which is basically an aggressive act of
destruction, the object is stripped of its utilitarian value and acquires
symbolic depth as a representational object.
Günther Uecker: Interferenzen, from "Künstler gegen die Folter", 1993,
Deutsche Bank Collection
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The act of driving a nail is monotonous, yet it has to be
carried out with great care; Uecker, who had already become interested in
Zen Buddhism at an early date, saw an activity in which a balance exited
between its meditative qualities and its aggressive nature.The first nail
objects arose in the late fifties. Initially, Uecker restricted himself to
Punctuation and the creation of a Perforated Structure , as two
works from 1957 and 1958 were called that featured nails, or, to be more
precise, "the principle of the nail as a point, as a hole driven into the
pictorial surface, or as a trace of a hole," as Wieland Schmied wrote on
the occasion of an exhibition in the Kestner Society in Hanover. During
the time that followed, Uecker refined his method. The protruding,
projecting steel pin proved to be the ideal vehicle for his artistic
purposes. "Where two lines touch," Uecker wrote, "is a point. That is
where I drive a nail. The nail's shadow creates a new line - the movement
of the shadow develops into a perception of time." Point, line, a shadow
varying according to the light source and the resulting symbolic
representation of the passage of time - these are the coordinates within
which Uecker established his working method.
Uecker in his studio, 1964,
Photo
from: catalogue Kestner-Gesellschaft Hannover, 1972
This process would soon take on extreme dimensions. In a photograph dating
from the year 1964, Uecker can be seen sitting in his studio, a somewhat
melancholy young man gazing severely into the camera, his hands resting on
his knees. Surrounding him, scattered about the room and hanging on the
walls, nail objects can be seen: tables, chairs, stools, paintings,
palettes - beds of nails growing and proliferating everywhere. Some are
curved, with bellies vaguely reminiscent of the prickly fur of a
porcupine, some are round and flat, resembling a bed of steel moss, and
others appear to be flowing to the ground in a thick mass. Seen from a
distance, his nail pieces look like surfaces with light and dark zones
spreading out in various shades of grey, drawing together, and waving back
and forth like corn stalks in the wind or sea grass in the water. The same
goes for Uecker's works of handmade paper, such as his series Manual
Structures from the collection of the Deutsche Bank.
Günther Uecker: detail from
Fünf Lichtscheiben - kosmische Vision, 1961 - 81
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