Page 90 - Katalog Sigrid von Lintig 2020.indd

Sigrid von Lintig is swimming
by Pum Hummel

Not an art-historical dispatch result. Emotions and feelings are to be evoked - eye and brain
should be engaged.
>> Hey, are you even listening to me! << Even if there is always one individual, resting, in motion, un-
>> Eh..., of course I’m listening, why are you asking? << recognisable, blurred or simply peripheral in the painting, the
>> You’re not looking at me, your eyes are focused a couple of model is only incidental. Where the water seems very real, the
metres above me... << figure seems to embody the abstract. But the water affects re-
cognition of the person. The abstract is actually the real, but
I am at a party, in an artist’s studio, everything is orderly and through the effect of the water the abstraction takes place in
cleared away for the festivities, apart from three large paintings front of the eyes. The water confirms its position as the prota-
that hang high up on the walls. My glances are unconsciously gonist and it is unrivalled.
drawn towards them. The water is also not informed by a symbolism as is usually the
Are they photographs or paintings? The light isn’t perfect, it is a case in art history. It is not meant as cleansing, nor as a sign of
party and not an exhibition. purity, ever flowing and seeking its way, nor to embody other
The pictures – a closer look confirms they are paintings – show symbols of change – aspects with which water is often associ-
large surfaces of water with a central figure. The setting does ated.
not seem contrived, neither is it a constrained photo-realistic It is not a focal point as part of the painting’s composition, but
representation. Put simply, it is the beauty that intrigues. As an IS the painting. Not threatening, wildly foaming or destructive,
enthusiast one has the advantage of not having to underscore Sigrid’s water is calming and not bound by the canvas. The se-
beauty in art with art-historical knowledge or with the theories cure and comforting tiled surroundings of an indoor pool are
of the day, if that were possible in the first place. Beauty is also recognisable in a lot of the pictures.
not describable with words without instantly losing value. When the swimmer paintings are viewed as an overall concept,
Of course the effect has something to do with quality, crafts- it becomes apparent, analogous to the example of the nineties
manship and talent, but that alone is not enough. The subject Danish film movement, ‘Dogma95’, that Sigrid von Lintig also
matter, the staging and the force of expression all determine the displays a certain lawfulness, stipulation and order. I cannot

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