realistic 1998

Here, Carsten Nicolai presents us with a series of images that seem to pulsate with the echoes of art's long history. Notice the progression of circles, from a simple dot to increasingly complex, chaotic scribbles within frames. The circle, an ancient symbol of wholeness and eternity, reappears across cultures, from mandalas in Eastern traditions to the Ouroboros, the snake eating its tail, representing cyclical renewal. In Nicolai's rendition, this symbol undergoes a transformation, mirroring the anxieties of modern existence, where the search for wholeness is often disrupted by fragmentation and noise. Consider, too, how these images recall the abstract expressionists, who sought to externalize inner emotional states through the act of mark-making. The artist, perhaps unconsciously, taps into our collective memory, evoking the primal act of drawing as a means of making sense of a world in constant flux. The progression here is not linear but cyclical, reflecting the enduring power of symbols to evolve and resonate across generations.