Titanic mit ausreichend Rettungsbooten

Material:

Canvas

Technique:

Oil

Shipping:

The artwork is shipped stretched on a stretcher frame – including a certificate of authenticity and the artist’s signature on the reverse.

The Titanic was one of the first subjects I painted and modelled as a child. The Titanic as a metaphor for the downfall of faith in human progress and, on a more abstract level, as a symbol for the downfall of human ideals. 

This also reminds me of Heiner Müller, who summed up capitalism with the phrase ‘There isn’t enough for everyone!’ and, on the other hand, characterised communism with the motto ‘All or none!’.

When I think of Heiner Müller, I am reminded of the words of Alexander Kluge, who repeats like a mantra that we must know the emergency exits: This knowledge of the emergency exits is a metaphor for finding ways out, hope and alternatives in hopeless situations, crises or in the face of political failure. This perspective – or the search for emergency exits – has fascinated me ever since. Although the fate of the Titanic was already sealed at the time of its naming – the Titans were banished to the ocean floor by the Olympian gods following their rebellion – I decided to equip the HMS Titanic with a sufficient number of lifeboats. It was somewhat difficult to preserve the ship’s aesthetics, as the number of lifeboats had to be more than doubled to ensure that all 2,224 people could be rescued. 

And so a catastrophe becomes a turning point with a happy ending. Just as Aeneas, fleeing the burning city of Troy with his father, children and the Penates – the household spirits – emerged as the first European to set foot in Carthage and Rome as a refugee of war.

A cousin or relative of this story that came to mind whilst looking at this painting:

“The Chief of Police was astonished that no one had fallen victim to the fire that completely destroyed the opera house during the Cologne Carnival. He was told that the cheerful carnival-goers formed two lines and danced merrily through the emergency exits, each person holding onto the shoulder of the person in front. No one was left behind.”