ROBIN MERKISCH 2000-2019 (EXTRACT)

BEGINNING IN 2000, ROBIN MERKISCH STARTED HIS SERIES OF CONTAINER WORKS WHICH WERE FINISHED IN 2002. WITHIN THIS BODY OF WORK, HE DEALT WITH REPRESENTING OBJECTS AND MACHINES THROUGH PHOTOGRAPHY. THE TITLE »FUNCTIONAL SYSTEMS AND OPERATIVE UNITS« WAS A WORKING TITLE FOR HIS SERIES OF IMAGES. THE FUNCTION OF EACH OBJECT VARIES FROM DNA ANALYSIS TO ELECTRICAL TRANSFORMERS TO COMPUTER COMPONENTS AND DATA BANKS.

THE IMAGES DEPICT THE EXTERIOR FORM, THE OUTER SURFACE, WHICH HIDES THE FUNCTIONAL INSIDES. BECAUSE OF THE MISSING SCALE, IT BECOMES DIFFICULT TO DETERMINE THE SIZE AND THE FUNCTION OF THE ORIGINAL OBJECTS. THE MISSING SCALE AND THE MISSING CONTEXT FORCES THE SPECTATOR TO MAKE THE COMPARISON WITH OBJECTS THEY ARE ALREADY FAMILIAR WITH - LOOKING FOR LINKS AND FORMAL REFERENCES WITHIN THE ARCHIVE OF ONE’S MEMORY.  WITH THIS PROCESS THE IMAGE IS DISCONNECTED FROM THE ORIGINAL DOCUMENTED OBJECT AND ENTERS AN AREA SOMEWHERE BETWEEN A SKETCH, A MODEL OR A SCULPTURAL FORM. THE »BLACK BOX«, DISCONNECTED FROM ITS FUNCTIONAL SURROUNDINGS, BECOMES A SCULPTURE.

HIS TRANSFORMER PIECES WORK IN A SIMILAR WAY. ALL PHOTOGRAPHED OBJECTS FROM THIS SERIES ARE LOCATED IN ONTARIO, CANADA.  BUT THIS TIME THEIR SURROUNDING AREAS ARE STILL VISIBLE, LIKE PHOTOGRAPHIC DOCUMENTS OF SCULPTURES IN A PARK.

ROBIN MERKISCH STARTED IN1996 TO FOCUS ON INDUSTRIAL OBJECTS AND INDUSTRIAL BASED FORMS. HE UNDERSTANDS HIS WORK AS A DISCUSSION AND QUESTIONING OF THE GROWING DISCONNECTION BETWEEN THE USER AND THEIR UNDERSTANDING OF THE MACHINE’S FUNCTIONAL PROCESS. WITHIN THE WORK HE MANAGED TO PROVIDE A FREE AREA TO ENABLE THE SPECTATOR TO SEE THE IMAGES EITHER AS A MACHINE SURFACE, ARCHITECTURE, ANIMATION OR ABSTRACT MATERIALIZED FORM.

THE MODELS FOR CONCRETE SCULPTURES  (BU/01-05) WERE THE STARTING POINT TO DEVELOPE BASIC FORMS, WHICH SHOULD BE OPTIMIZED ON AND FOR THE LOCATION.  A NATURAL SURROUNDING (PARK, FOREST, FIELD) WOULD BE AN IDEAL LANDSCAPE FOR CREATING A SCULPTURE AT A SELECTED AND AUTHORIZED PLACE. (MODEL SIZE: 0.3 X 0.4 X 0.1/ ROUGH DIMENSION FOR CONCRETE SCULPTURE: 1.5D X 2.0W X 0.5H METER)

IN 2007/2008 MERKISCH WORKED ON THE SERIES MODULE. THIS WORK SHOWS EQUIPMENT AND MACHINES IN THE FIELD OF RADIO- AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY. HERE HE PURSUED A SIMILAR APPROACH AS WITH THE CONTAINER SERIES. (PRINTS ON ARCHIVE PAPER, MOUNTED AND FRAMED, PICTURE SIZE: MD/01-11, 160X200 CM AND 40X50 CM)

THE MATERIAL FOR THE FM/51-242 (FM/51-242) AND THE FOLLOWING PIECES (FMB/008/01-13 AND FMB/017/01-12) WAS A RASTERIZED PHOTOGRAPHY OF A CIRCUIT BOARD. USING AN ALGORITHM MERKISCH PORTRAYED DIFFERENT STAGES OF FINITELY MANY CONDITIONS. (PRINTS ON ARCHIVE PAPER, MOUNTED AND FRAMED, PICTURE SIZE: 160X200 CM AND 40X50 CM)

DURING 2016/17 HE WORKED AGAIN WITH MFCS/001-017 AND THE REALIZATION IN THEIR FINAL SCALE (MFCS/001-017).

SINCE 2018 MERKISCH IS BUILDING WOOD MODELS FOR CONCRETE SCULPTURES WMFCS/001-021 AS YOU CAN SEE IN SOME INSTALLATION VIEWS FROM 2019.