ENERGY PLAN LlGHTS – MONSTERDRlNK
Casal Solleric. Courtyard
Datesi. l 8th September 2014  6th January 2015
lnstitutions: Palma City Council and
Fundaci6n Banco Santander
ln collaboration with: Gerhardt Braun Gallery


ln some way Knut Eckstein's work represents a development of the ideas behind the Pop Art movement and that of contemporary graffiti, due to the simple operation of appropriating visual elements, objects which form part of the urban landscape to provide them with a new symbolic personality. However, instead  of reproducing  them  exactly as  many of the artists did  in  the sixties -Andy Warhol,  Roy Lichtenstein, - who rose up against the expressive depth of art in the post-war period and conspired to  deprive the artistic "aura" of their works, but more than replicating them Knut Eckstein produces more of an ironic transformation by imitating the original object.

His objective is to present something to us, an image, a glimpse of something, which is familiar yet strange, whilst at the same time, force us to look at the banal stimuli, which often goes unnoticed and ask us to unravel its meaning. But since nothing is either banal or innocent in the frivolous market which is the Western world, the commercial logotypes form an essential part of his personal artistic iconography.

For his installation in the patio at the Casal Solleric, Knut Eckstein has presented a fusion of a familiar commercial logo with something which would come to be an "Olympic flame". With its fragile, almost third-world appearance, the construction which  is assembled  in the heart of this contemporary art centre,  is made up of bamboo sticks and tubes of LED lights, similar to those used for Christmas decorations.  Without hiding the simplicity of a frame, linked to a rudimentary model, and supported by sand-bags, Eckstein seems to reflect on the logic of consumerism. The strange harmonization of the natural elements and the most sophisticated technical resources is, basically, a paradox open to any interpretation.

Knut Eckstein lives and works in Berlin. From the beginning his work has centred on the study of urban landscapes and on what we see or do not want to see in our surroundings. His last major exhibition project was presented at both the National Museum and at the Goethe lnstitute in Singapore. He has also exhibited in  Paris,  Hungary, Spain, Germany, the UK and  lceland.  Forthcoming exhibitions are planned for the Stadtpfarrkirche Müncheberg and the Essenheimer Kunstverein.