Collection: Jirka stake

"When I look at Jirka Pfahl's folds, I am amazed at the seemingly chaotic ordering principle according to which the individual elements of the picture are arranged. When I examine the relationship between these elements of the overall picture, it turns out that this can be created using a few ordering rules. These underlying rules dictate how individual elements of the fold relate to one another as a sequence. Like the opening of a game of chess, decisions made about the shape and position of the folds brought into the picture will have an influence on variations in the overall picture. The agent who creates and carries out the sequence subjects himself to a programmatic procedure of previously made decisions. The agent will enter into the aesthetic creation (action, gesture, craft) of the fold in the hope of shaping further determinants and recombining them within the rules he has established. If this prospect is not fulfilled, he can change the rules as an autonomous designer and thus uncover a new decision-making space - this is the reason for his game of creating new works." — Nick de Hoog (* 1982) lives and works as an employee of the university in Konstanz and Hamburg. Since 2015, research assistant at the Cluster of Excellence ›Cultural Foundations of Integration‹ at the University of Konstanz

Structure, order, discipline, rigor. Softness, waves, shapes, depth.

At first glance, Jirka Pfahl's paper works reveal a depth filled with mathematical beauty. The strict form of the precise lines gives each work something calming and meaningful, and the incidence of light and the angle of observation constantly create new shades and patterns. The three-dimensional works of masterly handcraft resemble the art of the fugue of Leipzig's greatest inhabitant. In combination with a rocaille work and a new type of monotype, Jirka Pfahl's artistic range is revealed, his versatility and his talent for captivating and inspiring the viewer in every art form, no matter how different they choose. Concrete casts of hammer blows executed with omnipotence, crowded together, move the viewer deeply due to their seemingly never-ending dynamic. The blows, which follow one another in quick succession, leave a hollow space in the foamy material which, when filled with concrete, preserves the energy of the hammer in its purest form. As a symbol of craftsmanship and work, the hammer has been used ideologically in different regimes, but here it regains its original, dynamic purpose and expression and makes its significance in cultural history visible.