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The focus of this article is four installations by Franz Ehmann mounted between June 2000 and June 2001 . They are presented in chronological sequence, but not to suggest that the works represent a linear progression. The nuances are described in some detail as a means of uncovering the interwoven complexities of Ehmann's practice.
Existenz is a bicameral, multi-element installation. A constructed temporary wall, finished in natural wood, divides the space. On it Ehmann has mounted a pair of deer antlers; the attached skullcap fragment is overpainted with an 'Yves Klein' blue. Wax fingers in red, yellow, blue and black, cast from the artist's hand, are installed in a tightly spaced row from the floor to the bottom of the antlers. They 'point' to the vernacular, how things in the pre-industrial world were measured in relationship to the body. In turn, the absent eyes of the deer line up with a horizontal row of three 'altered' pictures purchased from thrift shops. (The term 'picture' is used to describe the pictorial sentimental as well as a lack of authenticity. They are reproductions.) Ehmann has covered them with a layer of beeswax, like a heavy varnish, to obscure the image but enhance the object sentiment. He added a blue horizon line across each.
White enamelled bowls sit on the floor, some with text fragments from his wish list, written over the past few years and still in progress. They are private thoughts and asides made public, wishful thinking, ambient allusions and ruminations. Some bowls are filled with milk, others with honey, mixing with the words. A dangling bare light bulb is close to the rim of one bowl, as if illumination of... The rest of this article is available to subscribers of Eyeline