Marc Aldinger

When we talk about saving the planet, we normally focus on scientific perspectives. We believe in the omnipotence of science. But crucial to whether we can save the planet is our social behavior, our consumer behavior, and our treatment of all living beings. And if we can accept and support their equal rights to live on our earth. »Fantastic Dolly« is an artificial creature created to bring hope. Its journey started in the studio, then it began to explore the world by visiting his conspecifics in the natural history museum in Berlin. Curious to see them. Inspecting the collection of animals conserved in glasses filled with alcohol. Nosy to see the evolutionary forerunners, millions of years older. Amazed at how humans preserve animals. Their wishful look at once exotic and now threatened life on earth. Their distant and half-hearted desire to keep the evolution and at the same time ignoring that they are responsible for all the destruction. »Fantastic Dolly« focuses on how we deal with people, it tries to keep the focus on sympathy and compassion to all other beings. To create a better world in the future, but also in each rising moment. Life is more than consumo ergo sum: I consume therefore I am.

The work »still-living« considers the aesthetics and meaning of objects unnoticed in urban space in our disposable culture – still lifes. The objects have been photographed on the streets of Berlin. Objects of our every day culture like colorful drink cans, scrunched and driven over, take away cups crumpled, leftover food careless scrapped.
Still life in the European art tradition is about lifeless and motionless objects. The choice of objects was substantial (often symbolic) and an aesthetic issue. The concern of the painters was on one hand to conceive the objects of nature and everyday life and at the same time to communicate an encoded message.

The issue of still life works in Baroque was the wealth of individuals, of aristocrats and the rich bourgeois. Beside the opulence impermanence was a central aspect in still life works. The opulence was shown by realistic and sumptuous embodiment of grapes, apples, the decoration with flowers, food in abundance and wine in beautiful wineglasses. This display of opulence was sometimes combined with signs of impermanence like dead animals, skulls or a candle.

The work »still-living« is a contemporary interpretation of the classical still life. It´s not about the richness of individuals. It´s about the richness of our society.The theme of vanitas plays a central role. In the centre of the work is a dead pigeon – as a sign of impermanence of worldly life. Their wings are widly spread. It´s lying on the asphalt. You can see it´s featherfin plumage in all their nuances of colours – beautiful and impermanent. The whole scenerie is contemplated by a creature in a golden yellow fur – looking through a glas vitrine on still-living.

Biography

Marc Aldinger (*1968 in Göppingen) lives and works in Berlin.