FAULT Focus: artist C.W. Lübeck
FAULT: How did you start out as an artist?
C.W.: I never really started out as an artist; I was born as an artist. A native talent cannot be bought or taught. It can be sanded and developed, like a diamond. This is a lengthy process: one must believe in the oneself all the way along the road of creativity, with all the hard work, luck, pleasure and disappointment. Being an artist is to die as an artist and become immortal.
How would you describe your work?
That is a difficult question to answer… The truth is that I cannot explain. The closest I can get to an explanation is this: my art is “Enter Password.” These words we recognize from the computer world, where the “Enter” key is for confirmation and “Password” is a code for something that is hidden – something that you can access if you know the password.
Where does your inspiration come from?
I love to answer that question! Be prepared for long list: hidden truth, human dangerousness, loneliness, delivery, Our time of installation madness, vapitdity, brainwashing, anarchy in the world of politics, greed of multinational companies, generations’ superficiality, general selfishness, Multinational stupidity and national idiotism, war, disappearance of individuality and self-analysis … I’ll stop there: I don’t want to bore you!
What do you think sets your artwork apart?
In a word: originality.
My own “madness” is transported to the world of my creation. Through visual imagery and various mixed media – music that I listen to, people I meet, and the metamorphoses of the souls that each of us inhabit.
Tell us about your current series, Stirb nicht vor mir – Die Phasen der Rammstein ( The Phases Of Rammstein )?
“Don’t Die before I Do – The Phases Of Rammstein” is my latest series inspired by Rammstein music. A part of “The Phases of Rammstein” was already shown at the Rock Expo 2012 in Sweden. Rammstein has always influenced my art. Ever since I have been listening to their music, I have been completely taken by it.
I remember saying to myself: “Incredibly enough, Rammstein’s music and my art have so much in common!”
Songs such as ‘Bück Dic’h ( Bend Over ), ‘Reise, Reise’ (Journey, Journey ), ‘Bestrafe Mich’ ( Punish Me ), ‘Mein Teil’ ( My Part ) ‘Mutter’ ( Mother ), ‘Sehnsucht’ ( Longing ) have already left their marks on my most recent paintings.
You have said that your current series seeks, in particular, to explore the song ‘Reise, Reise’ and the context of the tragic event that inspired that song. What about that tragedy of that scenario resonated with your message as an artist?
This question gets a better response from Jill Smith of the NY Arts Magazine, which wrote about my recent series “The Phases Of Rammstein”:
“’Reise, Reise’, a song and album title by the band, is based on the deadliest crash in history. On August 12, 1985 Japan Airlines Flight 123 suffered an explosion that caused the loss of all flight control and rendered the aircraft uncontrollable. Frantically, the pilots fought to keep the plane aloft for nearly a half hour, but eventually became trapped in the towering mountain ranges surrounding Mt. Fuji and crashed. Of the 524 people on board, only 4 people survived. Working with themes of tragedy, C.W.Lübeck’s work has much in common with Marx’s theory of alienation. Alienation is the systemic result of living in a socially stratified society, because being a mechanistic part of a social class alienates a person from his or her humanity. After the West became an industrial society, this sense of alienation increased. This is true particularly within a capitalist mode of production, where the worker invariably loses their ability to determine their destiny.”
One might say that, as an artist, you typically explore the theme of alienation, but that clearly manifests itself in different ways throughout your work. Do you agree with that assessment? If so, can you elaborate on the causes for such alienation?
Yes, I agree, absolutely!
First of all, when a person is born as an artist, that person already belong to the alienation because he or she is different from their peers. They think in a way that is incomprehensible from the vast majority of people. Their way of acting, speaking, joking, creating – generally communicating – and, in particular, their ability to see what others cannot – makes them dangerous to society and to the environment in which they live.
That is why the artist is always part of alienation. It is a gift that society with all consciousness throw away.
Ultimately, do you think people are in control of their own personal destinies?
No, I don’t think so.
Which artists do you most admire?
Andres Serrano
What has been the most memorable moment of your artistic career to date?
Art Exchange Exhibition, World Trade Center, New York, 1998
Florence Biennale for Contemporary Art, Florence, Italy 2001
Copenhagen Art Fair, Copenhagen,Danmark 2008 – 2009
Tell us what more we can expect from you as an artist. Any exciting plans for the future?
Probably “The Phases Of Rammstein” will be shown at Preview Berlin Art Fair, Berlin, Germany 2013
What is your FAULT?
My FAULT is my art which is, at the same time, both my imprisonment and my freedom.
For more information on the artist, C.W.Lübeck ( Carl Wassa Lübeck ) – Sweden, please visit: