Dietrich Albrecht (artist)

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Dietrich Albrecht , also Albrecht / d. (* April 21, 1944 in Nordhausen in Thuringia ; † February 12, 2013 in Stuttgart ) was a German artist of Fluxus , Mail Art , action art and other avant-garde art forms since the 1970s.

Life

Dietrich Albrecht came to Stuttgart in 1958, where his mother was already living. After finishing school, he completed an apprenticeship as a banker from 1962 to 1965 . In 1966 he started working as an artist. Until his age-related discharge from school (1968–2007) he worked as an art teacher, mostly at the Rilke Realschule in Stuttgart.

Artistic and journalistic work

Influences

According to artist colleague Bernd Löbach -Nweiser, Albrecht / d. especially influenced by Raoul Hausmann , with whom he communicated until his death and with whom he published texts, Hans Arp , Kurt Schwitters and John Heartfield . From 1965 onwards, Albrecht / d. with the art direction Fluxus and took part in related activities such as happenings , or organized them himself. In Stuttgart he was controversial with his happening art for a long time. At first he was almost alone with his actions, because the art scene was still too busy dealing with the Informel from the 1950s.

Beginning of the publishing work

In 1968 he founded the “Flug / fluxBlattzeitung” and his own publisher “Reflection Press”, where, in addition to theflug / fluxBlattzeitung, a wide variety of publications such as posters, pamphlets, brochures, books and tape cassettes were also published or distributed by other artists. These included Günter Sarée , Wolf Vostell , Aloys Ohlmann , Christos Joachimides , Ben Vautier , Friederike Pezold , Milan Knížák , Yoshio Nakajima, Peter Grohmann , Dietrich Fricker, Marc-Steffen Bremer, Throbbing Gristle and others. The "reflection press" project ended in 1988. By then, 50 numbered and numerous unnumbered art editions had appeared there. Under the name "Kinky Beaux Arts" Albrecht / d. the publishing and journalistic work continued, albeit to a much lesser extent. Most of the publications were now own works or joint productions with other artists.

Early 1970s, political art

  • In 1970 Albrecht / d. participated in the 10th Tokyo Biennale.
  • In 1971 he founded the “Independent Olympic Committee” (UOK) with Wolf Vostell and Günter Sarée , the aim of which was actually to open the artistic program of the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich to alternative art. The committee published theoretical contributions, a poster to found the committee and created its own Olympic anthem out of laughter.
  • In 1971/72 Albrecht / d. as secretary of the "Committee Europe - Latin America", which had been founded by German leftists and Latin American students.
  • In 1973 he took part in the exhibition "Art in Political Struggle" at the Kunstverein Hannover , which also included a two-day colloquium in which the artists were able to present their points of view in detail. The organizers asked the artists five questions. The question “Who do you want to reach in the future?” Answered Albrecht / d. with the words: “Broad sections of the population who can almost only be reached through the medium of television”. In response to the question “What could your contribution to the exhibition do to the visitors?” He replied: “To begin to deal with political issues yourself and to create collages, photomontages with political content.” The answer to the question “What do you expect from this exhibition? What is it supposed to achieve? ”Contained a statement that was also one of the leitmotifs of his artistic work:“ Not to produce exclusive items in elaborate printing techniques for the art audience, but to use reproduction techniques (offset printing, photocopy etc.) to attract more people than just a few ' Insider '. ”At the beginning of the 1970s Albrecht / d. to Fluxus at a distance, as in his opinion many artists only pursued this as L'art pour l'art . Albrecht / d. also repeatedly went unfamiliar ways to reach people outside the world of museums and galleries. In 1988 he exhibited at “2nd Hand Records” in Stuttgart and in the Gaildorf district hospital, as well as in cultural centers and cafés. It has always been important to him that his art has a place in people's everyday lives.

International activities

In 1974 Albrecht / d. participated in the exhibition "art into society - society into art" at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London. There was a joint concert with Joseph Beuys , whom he had already met in Stuttgart in 1968. There is a recording of the concert on LP, which Albrecht / d. has appeared.

Further international participations were the 10th Biennale de Paris in 1977, the “Feu Rouge” festival in Strasbourg 1980, “USINE PALI KAO” in Paris in 1982, “Mercato Del Sale (Ugo Carrega)”, Milan 1985, “40 years of art in Germany 1945 - 1985 ", Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei 1985/86," Medium Photocopy "in the Goethe-Haus New York 1988 and the" Performance Festival "in Zurich 1989.

Major participations and solo exhibitions in Germany

  • In 1978 the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart showed 111 postcards in a solo exhibition. His works were also represented there in the exhibitions “The Hand Drawing of the Present II” (1982) and “The Sound of Pictures” (1985).
  • 1983 belonged to Albrecht / d. the artistic advisory board of the Württembergischer Kunstverein Stuttgart (WKV) . He was co-organizer of the exhibition "Political Collage" in the WKV, co-author and co-editor of the accompanying documentation.

Albrecht / d. repeatedly involved in exhibitions

  • 1975 "50 Years of Württemberg Art"
  • 1978 "16 artists"
  • 1984 "Art Landscape Federal Republic" Kunstverein Kassel and Württembergischer Kunstverein Stuttgart
  • 1986 "In the material"

Important solo exhibitions

  • 1978 111 postcards, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart
  • 1989 Gallery in the Zwinger, St. Wendel
  • 1992 VIOLENCE as perpetuum mobile ... and the way to the realization of the void !, Municipal Museum at Salder Castle, Salzgitter

Musical development

Since the late 1960s, Albrecht / d. with musical expressions. Until 1971 he staged various Fluxus concerts in Göttingen, Cologne, Stuttgart and Kirchheim / Teck. While he initially performed his music under the heading “Dilletantism”, in 1972 a “Music of Silence and Meditation” emerged and from 1973 the concept for “endless music”, which he translated as “Music for Infinity”. The basic ideas were Balinese influences and elements of the Buddhist worldview. Even if the performance concepts and their names changed, these basic ideas remained constant in his musical work.

Albrecht / d. He built his instruments mostly himself. They were often percussion instruments, but also string instruments and playable installations with wire ropes that could be 5 meters and longer. He also experimented with wind instruments.

  • In 1974 the LP "endless music" was released.
  • In 1976 he published several recordings on tape cassettes on reflection press, which he had made with Throbbing Gristle in London in July of that year (“music from the death factory”, “Live at Martello Street” and “Throbbing Gristle et Albrecht / d. July 23, 1976 "). These were the first Throbbing Gristle releases in Germany.
  • In 1978 Radio Bremen ordered a composition from him for the series "Pro Musica Nova".
  • In 1985 he released an LP with excerpts from his previous musical work.
  • after that, tape recordings were made again and again, and later films of his musical performances.
  • 2012 the release of the double LP "Exorcismes From All My Fingers - Edition ALBRECHT / d." for Mama Baer
  • In 2012 he and Inspector Hjuler published the jointly created piece “Fast a Telephone Call” as CD-R, later a phone call immediately before Albrecht's death prompted Inspector Hjuler to start the sound carrier series FLUXUS +/-, which Albrecht / d. is dedicated.
  • In 2020 the LPs "Kein Leporello / Leporello", ALBRECHT / d. / Kommissar Hjuler , "Bullshit & two COUM transmissions", ALBRECHT / d. / Angela Merkel / Kommissar Hjuler und Frau and the 7inch EP "Feldpost" ALBRECHT / d. & Mama Baer .

Visual arts

Among the techniques with which Albrecht / d. Addressing people and trying to win them over to art, but also to political and social issues, included reproduction techniques. Albrecht / d. has dealt intensively with printing and copying techniques. A book was published in the design book Verlag Cremlingen. In Stuttgart he repeatedly offered copy workshops in order to promote the technology, especially that of the emerging color copiers, and its artistic use.

Postcards played an essential role in his work, with which he was able to send specific graphic statements to known addressees and, in response, to receive such artistically designed cards in return. Envelopes, own postage stamps, own banknotes, telegrams, parcels and mailing rolls were also among the "bearers of the messages". He often took part in mail art campaigns . In addition to posters and single sheets, Albrecht / d. Copied and edited sheets of paper were glued to cardboard as early as the early 1970s and tied together with parcel string to form so-called ensembles. This resulted in kaleidoscopic structures and leporellos that relate different aspects and motifs to one another. At the same time, this concept made it possible to create three-dimensionality by emphasizing and angling parts of the ensemble.

Political and social engagement

For Albrecht / d. but also a social commitment. He supported solidarity campaigns with other artists, took part in the "Pictures for Africa" ​​campaign initiated by Aloys Ohlmann and promoted the initiative to show them in 1988 in the Theaterhaus Stuttgart . He took part in the campaign "Vote immigrants to the town hall" for the Stuttgart municipal council election on October 22, 1989 and supported the Stuttgart non-sedentary aid.

In 1983 he donated works for the initiative “German Artists Help Polish Artists”, in 1993 he took part in the “Art for Chocolate” campaign, the proceeds of which went to children in Tuzla at the time of the Bosnian War. In 1992, the art collector Alexander Baier wrote in the foreword to the catalog of the exhibition “VIOLENCE as a perpetuum mobile…” in Salder Castle that Albrecht / d. a good example of an idealistic, political (but not party-political) social commitment of an artist that has not broken for decades.

Influence and effect

Despite his numerous activities, Albrecht / d. a foreign body in Stuttgart and only recognized in certain circles. His constant criticism of the art world, his preference for the subversive and, in some cases, his refusal to adapt to trends stood in the way of wider acceptance. He told friends like Georg Mühleck or Christa Düwell that his work is “more valued all over the world than in Stuttgart”. Nevertheless, he did not want to leave the "Stuttgart exile" (Albrecht / d.). Even after reunification, a return to Nordhausen was out of the question for him.

Like many other artists, Albrecht / d. from about 1979 he was also in contact with the punk scene, whose directness, actionism, dilettantism and subversiveness fascinated him. From joint appearances and actions, long-term friendships also developed, which continued to have an effect until after his death and thus also to the initiative “An evening for Albrecht / d.” On December 4, 2015 and the associated exhibition at the Württembergischer Kunstverein (December 4, 2015 - January 17, 2016).

Albrecht / d. was married to the Japanese painter Kyoko Ima. He died on February 12, 2013 in his apartment in Stuttgart Bad Cannstatt and is buried in the Pragfriedhof.

literature

  • Catalog for the exhibition “happening und fluxus”, Stuttgart 1970/71, collaboration with Albrecht / d.
  • "Actions", OMNIBUS PRESS + Mixed Media Edition, ed. By Peter Below, Munich and Kitzingen 1976.
  • Albrecht / d. + Tim Osterwold; "Political Collage - Artists from Baden-Württemberg", Württembergischer Kunstverein, Stuttgart 1983.
  • “Albrecht / d. - Collage, Geklebtes, Mix 1975 - 1985 ”, ed. by Bernd Löbach-Hinter, Designbuch Verlag Cremlingen 1986, ISBN 3-923971-10-9 .
  • “The VFB greets the brave Viet Cong, Stuttgart in the 1960s”, Flugasche Verlag, Stuttgart, 1989, ISBN 3-925286-93-4 .
  • "Albrecht / d. VIOLENCE as a perpetuum mobile ... and the way to the realization of the void! ”- Catalog for the exhibition in the Städtische Galerie Schloß Salder, Salzgitter 1992.
  • “Albrecht / d. - Instant Life Love Death ”, ed. by Bernd Löbach-Hinter, design book Verlag Cremlingen 1996, ISBN 3-923971-52-4 .
  • “Albrecht / d. -… trying to improve the codes for scanning and processing with the computer… ”, ed. by Bernd Löbach-Hinter, design book Verlag Cremlingen 1996, ISBN 3-923971-53-2 .
  • “Albrecht / d .: A politically engaged artist”, ed. by Bernd Löbach-Hinter, Designbuch Verlag Cremlingen 2005, ISBN 3-923971-65-6 .
  • “ALBREcHt / d .: Actually no time to be famous”, ed. by Peter Haury for Oberwelt eV, EDITIONrandgruppe Stuttgart 2017, ISBN 978-3-981692-65-5

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Löbach reference: "Albrecht / d. A politically engaged artist ”, Designbuch Verlag Cremlingen, 2005, ISBN 3-923971-65-6
  2. ^ Löbach reference: "Albrecht / d. A politically engaged artist ”, Designbuch Verlag Cremlingen, 2005, ISBN 3-923971-65-6
  3. ^ Löbach reference: "Albrecht / d. A politically engaged artist ”, Designbuch Verlag Cremlingen, 2005, ISBN 3-923971-65-6 .
  4. ↑ Matthias Ulrich: “No stones in the Neckar - Albrecht / d. and the happening art ", in" Stuttgart in the 60s ", Flugasche-Verlag, Stuttgart, 1989, ISBN 3-925286-93-4 .
  5. ↑ Art has to sit on the citizen's neck, like the lion on the horse: 8 models of self-organization: Großgörschen 35 Berlin, Ten Nine, Group Werkstatt Hamburg, Zeltschule Hamburg, Edition Staeck, Reflection Press Albrecht D., Augenladen Bernhard Sandfort, 7th producer gallery. 7th producers' gallery, Berlin 1975.
  6. ^ "Reflection Press - graduation after 20 years" ketchup Stuttgart, 06-1988
  7. ↑ Löbach Hinter mentions "four Vostell posters with images of body parts of Vietnamese killed in concrete, which were printed in 1972 by the Alexander Baier publishing house in Mainz" ("Albrecht / d. A politically engaged artist")
  8. ^ Löbach reference: "Albrecht / d. A politically engaged artist ”, Designbuch Verlag Cremlingen, 2005, ISBN 3-923971-65-6
  9. ^ Löbach reference: "Albrecht / d. A politically engaged artist ”, Designbuch Verlag Cremlingen, 2005, ISBN 3-923971-65-6
  10. ↑ Christos M. Joachimides , Norman Rosenthal (Ed.): Art into society - society into art. Seven German artists. Albrecht D., Joseph Beuys, KP Bremer, Hans Haacke, Dieter Hacker, Gustav Metzler, Klaus Staeck. Institute of Contemporary Arts, Nash House, October 30 - November 24, 1974. ICA, London 1974.
  11. ↑ The compilation is based on publications by the Württembergischer Kunstverein, the catalog for the exhibition in Salzgitter and information material from the artist
  12. ^ Statement by Albrecht / d.
  13. ↑ ALBRECHT / d. - Actually no time to be famous, Edition Randgruppe, pp. 273, 277-279
  14. ↑ “Albrecht / d. -… trying to improve the codes for scanning and processing with the computer… ”, ed. by Bernd Löbach-Hinter, 1996, ISBN 3-923971-53-2
  15. ^ Löbach reference: "Albrecht / d. A politically engaged artist ”, Designbuch Verlag Cremlingen, 2005, ISBN 3-923971-65-6
  16. ^ Text on the exhibition in Paris 1977, quoted on reflectionpress.wordpress.com, accessed on January 3, 2016
  17. ^ City of Salzgitter, Modern Gallery - Städtisches Museum Schloß Salder, catalog for the 1992 exhibition
  18. ↑ "To be famous no time", published in ketchup 10-1988
personal data
SURNAME Albrecht, Dietrich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Albrecht / d. (Stage name); Albrecht D (stage name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German artists of new forms of art
DATE OF BIRTH April 21, 1944
PLACE OF BIRTH Nordhausen
DATE OF DEATH February 12, 2013
Place of death Stuttgart