For the Busan Biennale German artist Stefan Rinck will show a newly commissioned stone sculpture. The artist describes the work as a portrait “of a big creature, or spirit that divides man and woman”. This mythical entity comes from a parallel theory to genesis. In the book of genesis, Eve is made from Adam, but in the parallel theory there is just being who divides into two, making man and woman. The work is a playful look at mythology and religion, but religion is not the main subject of investigation. When asked if the artist himself is religious, Rinck is equally as evasive as his work “Yes and no” is the reply. Though perhaps not “the subject”of the work, the materials they are made of are hugely important when considering how the sculptures function. The work for Busan will be made in Granite, the course igneous rock. Stone carving has all the primitive associations of cavemen and neoliphic society and this is something embraced by the artist. As he explains “I like to use stone because I have always been thinking about the Romanic sculptures. So using stone is referring to them. I want to allow the stone to speak, in a way, to be narrative”. For Rinck, the idea of marrying “old” materials and “old” subjects, makes perfect sense and also reflects his interest in Romanesque masters such as Gislebertus.
