Sebastian Richter: "Axe 1 + Axe 2" - German/German
The two axes are among the most recent of the glass objects acquired by the Glasmuseum Wertheim e.V. for the International Studio Glass Collection. The occasion was the 3rd European Glass Prize awarded by Coburg in 2011.
A "standard" wooden handle and a "standard" axe blade made of iron, alternately moulded in glass - this is how Sebastian Richter's "Axe 1 and Axe 2" present themselves. Richter lives in Halle, where, along with Munich, the centre of innovative new glass art is located.
What is fascinating about Richter's "Axes" is not so much the technical side as the artistic concept that characterises the studio glass generation of today. Strikingly often, seemingly everyday objects made of glass appear. Through alienation, they evoke an unusual perspective in the viewer and become something new in his consciousness. Richter also relies on this irritation in the viewer: he wonders whether a real axe ever seems as threatening as these alienated "axes".
"For violence" - says Richter - "is omnipresent in our time, we react indifferently to it, we have become accustomed to it. When looking at the axes, a process of awareness sets in that makes the viewer realise that violence can divide, hurt and erase - just as one can split a log with an axe or kill a person and shatter glass into a thousand pieces."
Sebastian Richter: "Axe 1 + Axe 2" - English
These two axes are one of the museum's most recent acquisitions for the international studio glass collection. These were part of the 3rd European Glass Prize awarded in Coburg in 2011.
An everyday wooden handle with a glass blade and an everyday iron axe blade with a glass handle are placed next to one another in Sebastian Richter's Axe 1 and Axe 2. Richter lives in Halle, which is the 2nd centre of innovative glass art after Munich.
The fascinating thing about Richter's Axes is not the technical, but the artistic concept, which epitomizes the contemporary Studio Glass generation. Everyday objects made of glass appear remarkably often because the disassociation the material glass induces evokes an unfamiliar perception in the viewer and creates a new awareness in the conscious mind. Richter plays on this irritation in the viewer who asks whether a real axe ever seemed as threatening as these two disassociated "Axes.
"Because violence and force" - says Richter - "are ubiquitous in our society today, we react indifferently to them, have become used to them. The realisation process that takes place when looking at the axes makes it clear to the viewer that force and violence can divide, wound and extinguish - just as an axe can split a log, kill a person and shatter glass into a thousand pieces."