Insel 2019

Curator: Eckart Hahn's "Insel," created in 2019, utilizes mixed media to present a striking still life of origami figures. Editor: The first thing that jumps out at me is the playful color palette against the rather somber background. It's as if these vibrant, delicate paper sculptures are staging a rebellion. Curator: Hahn's choice to combine such accessible objects, the origami, with fine art techniques offers some interesting considerations on art valuation in modern society. Do mass-produced images impact authenticity? Editor: I love that you point out their 'accessibility'. While origami itself can be found everywhere, these shapes feel burdened by a colonial desire to render the exotic ‘visible’ for western audiences, they're not made of 'indigenous materials.' It brings up ideas about trade, the movement of materials, and how cultures become flattened. Curator: The plinth-like object on which they sit evokes the language of sculpture, which emphasizes the traditional art canon, the high arts—that is itself adorned with printed leaves and, of course, a turtle. It appears to me the origami sculptures themselves might even reference specific sculptural forms. I think Hahn is attempting to ask, and answer, if value can be built upon familiar forms or whether they're destined to clash in disharmony. Editor: Definitely. Also, given Hahn’s cultural background and current location in Germany, I see another layer concerning how European artistic institutions engage with, and often commodify, non-Western cultural traditions. How non-Western art gets legitimized—or not. The mixed media adds another layer, almost creating an artificial 'sheen' to something ephemeral like paper folding, creating a tension there. Curator: That is astute. Thinking about the geometric style that each sculpture uses does emphasize the industrial aspect, like some kind of consumer commodity, as much as an artform. So we have high and low meeting each other— Editor: It is all intertwined; I can’t look at one part without seeing everything else at play. Ultimately, the artist highlights this system for how it operates. Curator: I think after our observations, it is clear that Hahn’s “Insel” is doing exactly that: it highlights how value itself gets constructed within the art world, something worth keeping in mind in this very gallery! Editor: Exactly—seeing it that way opens up even further avenues for understanding not just the work itself, but the systems surrounding its presentation and reception. Thank you, Eckart Hahn.