Backstage (2008) – Rolf Julius

installation
mixed media, ca. 300 objects from the artist’s studio, 60 × 400 × 400 cm
Galerie Anselm Dreher, Berlin and Maija Julius, Düsseldorf

Rolf Julius

* 1939 in Wilhelmshaven (DE), ✝ 2011 in Berlin (DE)

The still life composed of bowls, paint pigments, plastic bags, stones, a lamp and several loudspeaker chassis is reminiscent of an alchemist’s workshop. Rolf Julius designed the sound installation as a snapshot of his studio in 2008. Some of the objects bring to mind previous works: the cobblestones of Musik in einem Stein (1982) and Stonefield (1999) or the pigment-strewn panes of glass in Musik für einen fast leeren Raum (1998). Pigment dust vibrates in loudspeakers; the substance reacts to acoustic recordings.

Backstage preserves a transitional state – crumpled plastic bags lie next to unused cups. This is the nexus of work achieved, the place where new possibilities suggest themselves. But Backstage is more than just a snapshot of a concrete workspace. It is a portrait of the artist absent the artist, laying Julius’s material landscape, and his spiritual landscape, at visitors’ feet.

Sound sequence: Musik für eine weite Ebene