In the Middle Ages, both sides of consciousness – towards the world and towards the inside of man himself – lay under a common veil, dreaming or wide awake …
In Italy this veil first fades into the air; it awakens an objective contemplation and treatment of the nation and of all things of this world in general; next to it, however, the subjective rises with full power; man becomes spiritual individual and recognizes himself as such.

The Manifestation of Volumes references this era and seeks to create a space of perception that bridges the gap between this period and what is still an ongoing pre-configuration of the world we live in today.

Sen-Giotto – The Manifestation of Volumes is an art installation that explores parallels between the work of Italian Renaissance artist Giotto di Bondone and today’s prevalent visual messaging techniques. The installation juxtaposes Giotto’s system of illustrating biblical passages as sequential depictions of deities with the continuous image streams that surround us daily.

The exhibit integrates 3 elements:

A vaulted projection screen that evokes the interior envelope of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, Italy – Giotto’s most revered project – and reflects live projection feeds from global satellite TV stations.

Three composite marble slabs placed in the center of the projection vault evoke Giotto’s Life of Joachim sequence from the Scrovegni Chapel. A series of 3-D printed halos, each derived from one of Giotto’s Joachim scenes, is inserted into water-jetted cutouts in the square sides of the slabs.

Sen Giotto – The Manifestation of Volumes is embedded in a modulating soundscape. Processed sound fragments from the satellite TV feeds, weaved through electronic and acoustic score sections, create an undulating and quietly evolving sonic backdrop for the installation.

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The Halo (Joachim‘s Life)

frieze of 6 plates, each: pigmentprint with gold leaf, 59,4 cm x 42 cm

The Halo (Joachim‘s Life) I exhibition view

frieze of 6 plates, each: Nero assoluto with inlays of smoked oak, gold leaf, steal frame, 30cm x 30cm x 2cm

…the aureole seems to have lost its place among men, withdrawn itself into a distance from which it can no longer be retrieved, can no longer appear, or appear only in such a way that it acquires a completely new function in the visible – as a pure constellation in space, as a pure reference context that refers to nothing more than (in the meta-picture): transcendence. …

Excerpt: Notes on the work of Detlef Günther, Christian Kupke, September 2017

The Halo (Joachim‘s Life)

frieze of 6 plates, each: Thassos marble with inlays of smoked oak, gold leaf, wooden frame, 30cm x 30cm x 2cm

The Halo (Joachim‘s Life)

lithobox with 6 lithos (Chine Collé), each: 22cm x 22cm

The Halo (Presentation)

oil on hardboard, 220 cm x 200 cm

Joachim‘s Dream is a fresco in the Cappella degli Scrovegni in Padua. It is part of a 36-part fresco cycle created by the Italian painter Giotto di Bondone in 1303-05, commissioned by Enrico Scrovegni. Günther released the picture figure of Joachim from the fresco, gave it a 3-dimensional body, “biometrically” captured and digitally reproduced as “souvenirs”. A “souvenir” that recalls a story that began about 700 years ago. ….

Joachim’s Dream

free 3D-replica of the pictorial figure, styrodur, acrylic paint, hight: app. 24 cm

Joachim’s Dream – Souvenirs (shades)

pigment prints, diff. sizes

Joachim’s Dream – Souvenirs

digital multiple, 3D-print, polymere plaster, hight approx.: 12 cm

Joachim’s Dream – Souvenirs (colours)

digital multiple, 3D-print, polymere plaster, hight approx.: 12 cm

… The dreamer is asked to believe and agree to what he or she can only partially recognize in the waking state, just like the viewer in front of the picture, who follows the parable of seeing and transfers it to the reality of the image. …

SOMNIUM – The Reality of the Image. EVA Berlin-Kulturforum Staatliche Museen Berlin, 2017

Exhibition accompanying the lecture

SOMNIUM is a project by Detlef Günther and Arthur Engelbert.
The SOMNIUM-scetchbook (pdf_german) you will find HERE.

The 21st Century – Confessio (The 700-year-old Dream)

Installation, mixed media (draft 2017)

A good seven centuries ago, the Italian painter Giotto di Bondone created 38 murals in the Capella Scrovegni (Arena Chapel) in Padua with scenes from the lives of St. Joachim and Anna, their daughter Mary and from the life of Jesus Christ. With this work Giotto is today considered the founder of Renaissance painting and the inventor of virtual space.

… Since then the imagination has been locked up in box rooms. Every contemporary witness knows that he is surrounded by pictures. Pictures are instructions for action. Their story is not yet over…

JOACHIM’S DREAM (Visibility Arrangements)

Media-Installation – Box-Space (draft)

JOACHIM’S Dream (Visibility Arrangements)

Chamber Version

Composition by Arvo Pärt „Spiegel im Spiegel“, Cello-Piano-Version (9 Min. and 33 Sec.) – Sebastian Klinger (Cello) and Jürgen Kruse (Piano).
With kindly support Brilliant Classics – The Netherlands.

Joachim’s Dream (Window_View)

You can see a demo-video from the installation and the solo version of the Moving Canvas HERE.